Across the Universe
by Jack The Obssesive Maniac
Summary: Strange things are always happening around Hillwood. But now, things are about to graduate to a whole new level of weird. And it all starts with a person in a cloak. A/H G/P softshipping.
1. Chapter 1

_Tears began to well up in his eyes almost instantly, as Helga folded her arms in front of her chest with a sneer. "See? 'e isn't my boyfriend. I told you" she snickered. Arnold carefully removed the blue cap from the top of his head and rubbed the bulging lump that had just appeared._

_ "Helga…" he winced, doing his best to hold back the tears. "That was mean…"_

_ Helga frowned, and lifted her fist up to deliver a second blow, when she felt a large hand on her shoulder. "What do you think you're doing, young lady?" asked a familiar gruff voice from behind her. Helga looked up to meet the stern face of her father. "Don't hit, Olga. You outta know better." He huffed, seemingly ignorant to Helga's protest at being confused with her sister._

_ Big Bob glanced over at Arnold with a frown. "And you- don't go letting people hit you. What're you a moron?" With that, Big Bob ushered Helga away, and Arnold watched confused, as Helga turned around to send him a withering glare._

_ Arnold put his cap back on, and wiped away the tears on the sleeve of his shirt. That was Helga's dad? He was… really *big*. Also, what had that been all about? Nobody had claimed that they were 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' had they? He certainly hadn't._

_ Where would she get an idea like that?_

* * *

My eyelids felt heavy, but after a while I finally managed to open them. Everything was fuzzy. The first thing I could see was my hands. They were big, and bathed with red. My heart skipped a beat. As the fuzziness in my head began to fade away, I could feel jolts of pains rushing all over my body. My ribs, my nose and my leg. I glanced down at my shirt, and was relieved at the lack of any more red fluid.

Minutes ticked by slowly, as I carefully stood myself up. I leaned heavily against a big metal garbage can, and let out a low sigh. I tried to think for a second, but it felt too painful. Even so, the questions wouldn't stop.

Why am I here? What happened? Why am I injured? And then, finally, and most disturbingly, who am I?

Luckily, the answer to the last question came by rather quickly. 'My name is… Arnold' I silently told myself. 'Nine… years old? My best friend is Gerald; I live with my grandparents… I… like jazz music?' I frowned and shook my head. It all seemed right but oddly… dated. I slowly made my way out of the alleyway, supporting myself on the side of the building. I dragged my leg across the dirt, doing my best to ignore the pain.

After what seemed like hours, I finally found my way onto the side walk. The dull orange glow of the street light brought me to another realization. It was night time. Slowly, I limped my way off the wall and wrapped my arm around the streetlight. I couldn't see any cars off in the distance, and there was no sign of anybody else. I cleared my throat, and looked up into the night sky.

"He-…" I started to cough. Hearing the sound of my own voice was oddly disconcerting. It sounded weak, and helpless. Maybe I was in worse shape than I thought. I cleared my throat and tried again."He-llo? Is… there… anybody there?" I called out, slowly. I could feel my heart beginning to speed up at the lack of response.

Still, I was in the light now. It could only be a matter of time before somebody saw me, and called for help. I took a deep breath. All I had to do was stay calm and-

Something moved in the corner of my eye. I glanced over at the street, just in time to watch a man hole cover erupt out of the cement. Seconds later, I could just make out the silhouette of something jumping out of the sewers and landing on its feet with an odd sense of grace. The creature turned to face me, and before I could so much as blink- it was already standing over me.

"Arnold? Is that you?"

I looked up, and found myself staring at my grandma's worried face. I opened my mouth to speak, but in one fluid motion she had already scooped me up into her arms, and was hugging me with all of her might. Which, as it turns out, was quite a lot.

"Gra-grandma-…" I choked. "I'm… hurt- I'm hurt-…"

Thankfully, she loosened her grip. "What happened little man? We've been looking for you all over-…" she said, her voice taking an odd tone that seemed completely out of her character. I shook my head. "I don't… don't…" all of a sudden, my vision was taken over with a variety of large black splotches. I opened my mouth to tell her that I was about to faint, but by then the darkness had already taken over.

* * *

It took a while for me to open my eyes again. By the time I did, I was lying in a hospital bed, with my leg in a cast strung up in front of me. I felt like I could move, but I knew better than to try. As I glanced about the room, noting that it was still very late at night, I noticed some movement in the comer of my eye. I turned around to face it too fast, and felt the consequences almost immediately. My head started to spin, and the soreness in my sides flared with a vengeance.

I resisted the urge to wince though, when I saw what was standing in front of me.

He or she looked to be around my age. Easily my height, maybe shorter. But I couldn't make out any other features, because the person was wearing a long black cloak with a hood that perfectly hid his or her's face. I opened my mouth to say something, but the person in the cloak raised a hand to silence me. Oddly, I did just that. I wasn't scared- which was strange enough in itself I guess, but the person seemed to exude a familiar trustworthiness.

The door to my room creaked a little, and all of a sudden the person in the cloak was gone. Just as my grandparents rushed into the room. Followed by the worried faces of Mr Hyunh, Ernie and a sleepy looking Oskar.

"Short man! Are you okay?" Grandpa asked. Both he and Grandma where already by my bedside before I had time to so much as blink. I nodded, and I could see their spirits rise immediately. "You see Phil? I told you our tough kid here would be fine-" Grandma announced. By now, Mr Hyunh, Ernie and Oskar had surrounded me as well. Being surrounded by their smiling faces made all of the pains in my joints and sides begin to fade. I opened my mouth to thank them, when the door to my room swung open once again. In the doorway stood a tall, buff looking nurse who looked as though she might also have a moustache.

"I told you..." she growled, holding a broom in her hands as if it were a baseball bat, "visiting hours are OVER!" with that she leapt at Oskar, landing a large swipe. In an instant, Grandma gathered both Ernie and Grandpa under each arm and sent me one of her crazy smile. "Now you have a good rest, dearie." She croaked before racing out the door and down the hall with both Oskar and Mr Hyunh running after them, and the crazy nurse chasing them with her broom. Just before the sounds faded away, I could hear Grandpa saying something along the lines of 'not again'.

I grinned. Grandma and Grandpa always knew how to make things fun.

"Arnold."

I jumped at the sound of the voice. Turning around, I saw the person in the cloak standing by the window. Under the pale white moon light, I could just make out the bottom half of his or her face. The person's skin seemed oddly pale. Almost sickly.

"Arnold." The person repeated. His or her voice was being morphed by one of those devices that Helga had used during her brief stint as 'Deep Voice'. I wondered for a second, if maybe this person was Helga. What the person said next however, made me doubt it.

"I am not Helga."

Well, I'll admit. It was probably not the most subtle of clues I could have picked up on. And for some reason, I believed the person straight away. "Wh-who are you then?" I asked, in a rasp. The person in the cloak took a step closer to me, to get out of the moonlight.

"I can't tell you that yet- Sorry. Things get very complicated in situations like this. I just... I've been sent here by a friend of mine to warn you, and to guide you through the coming challenges." The person in the cloak said. I could hear the sincerity in his or her voice, despite the voice modifier. Then, what he just said began to dawn on me.

"Wait- challenges? What- What's going on?" I asked.

"Sorry, Arnold. I'm not allowed to be anything more than some spooky shadow guy. All I can say is that the things that are headed your way... they're all connected. And now more than ever... you're going to need your friends."

And then, the person in the cloak was gone.

In the silence of the hospital room, I put my head down and stared up at the ceiling. Weirdness had always been a large part of my life. I've seen sewer gators, a genuine haunted subway and a mysterious group of people that lived in the junkyard. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this was something different.

It wouldn't be long until I found out just how very right I was.

* * *

_"I don't like this. Why couldn't you find a way to override the space time data restrictions so that I could warn him properly?" _

_"You know just as well as I do that we're lucky you were able to break through for as long as you did. I know that we don't have the time to round them up one by one like this, but we have no choice. It won't let them out until they are finished."_

_"I hope he gets it faster than I did." _

_"Everybody'll do it faster than *you* did."_

_ "Very funny, Sally."_

* * *

**AN: **I'm planning on continuing this solely on what kind of reseption it gets. So if your curious, go ahead and review! Please? I am not above begging.

Also, I'ts probably notable that I've been kicking around the idea for this story- and a host of others just like it - for a very long time. Message me if you have questions or whatever. Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

_Arnold looked down at the ground, let out a long weary sigh. The kindergarteners had been taken to the park for the day, with the added bonus of being given an ice-cream each. Arnold had been sitting at a park bench alone fairly innocently with his. That is, until being shoved off of his seat._

_Time seemed to slow down, as Arnold watched the ice-cream fall off of the cone and land in the dirt with a heavy 'splat'. Arnold looked away from the unbearable sight of wasted ice-cream, and turned to face the person that had shoved him. His bully. The person who seemed to have dedicated every waking moment of her existence to making his utterly miserable._

_It didn't surprise him in the least to find himself face to face with none other than Helga G Pataki._

_There weren't many others mean enough to ruin somebody else's ice-cream. Even Harold, the only other bully in the class, held a special exception when it came to ice-cream. Ice-cream was sacred to kids their age, and taking it away from someone or knocking it into the dirt was completely unheard of._

_"What're you looking at?" Helga demanded, as she took a long lick of her own ice cream. "You made me drop my ice-cream!" said Arnold, angrily. Helga snorted. "So? I don't care. It was your fault for sitting in *my* spot." As she spoke, she took another long lick of her ice-cream and then pointed her tongue at Arnold._

_"That... I was really looking forward to it, Helga! That was so mean!" Arnold said, in an increasingly loud voice. "You... you're a jerk, Helga G Pataki!" he announced. Helga looked stunned and hurt for a second, but she quickly shook it off. _

_"Oh yeah!" she yelled._

_"Yeah!"_

_Helga opened her mouth to say something- but she stopped short. The two of them glared at each other for a few seconds, until Helga broke eye contact. Slowly, she glanced down at her ice-cream, and then back at Arnold. _

_"Fine then... here." she muttered, holding her ice-cream out in front of her. Arnold blinked in confusion. "What?" he asked. Helga huffed. "Take it! You like ice-cream so much- you can have mine! I-... I don't want it anyway..." she said. She looked away from him, inwardly begging her face not to turn red._

_Arnold stared at her hand. It was melting more with every passing minute, running down her small and oddly delicate looking hand. He rose his hand to take it, but something stopped him. She looked like she felt bad about knocking his ice-cream into the dirt... maybe he could just leave it at that._

_"No... You can keep it Helga." he said. _

_"Wha-... why?" she asked. She looked back at him, with a strange look in her eyes. She always looked different when she wasn't angry. Arnold thought maybe she even looked... nice. "It's okay Helga. I'll just go play ball with Gerald-" he started, only to be quickly cut off. "No, here! Take it! I want... you to..." she went oddly silent._

_Arnold looked confused. "No- I mean... You have it. You licked it anyway so-" Arnold was stopped mid-sentence, by an ice-cream being thrown into his face. _

_"I said, take it!" Helga yelled. And with that, she was gone. Leaving Arnold standing alone, with melted ice-cream running down his face. When she was gone, Arnold wiped off some of the cream with a finger and licked it._

_"Mmm... mint choc-chip..."_

* * *

I wiped my mouth with the hospital gown, and immediately regretted it. Now, just underneath my collar, were three large splotches of white, pink and brown. I frowned for a second, and then slowly shifted my way out of the bed. I didn't think I had gotten _that_ much ice-cream on my face. I did my best to move my leg as little as possible. It was still in a cast- and although I didn't know if moving it so often was a good idea, I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.

The bathroom was on the other side of the room, and any other options weren't particularly favorable to me. The doctor and the nurses didn't seem to mind my shyness, and since I wasn't hurt too seriously I had been given a crutch to help me get to the bathroom. It took some effort, but I made it eventually. The sink washed away the strawberry and the vanilla ice-cream, but the chocolate left a stain that I had to put some effort into getting rid of. Eventually though, it gave out. And after drying it with a towel, I left the bathroom just in time to notice that my bed was being occupied by the person in the cloak.

He or she was sitting on top of the sheets, seemingly staring off into space. "Um, hello. Can I help you?" I asked, somewhat confused. The person in the cloak turned to face me. Somewhat illogically, I still couldn't see his face in the hood. "Good morning, Arnold. Sorry to drop in unexpectedly- but it seems that we have... a bit of a situation." it said, it's voice still deepened by a seemingly invisible voice modifier.

"What do you mean?" I asked, as I made my way back to the bed. The person shifted the sleeve of the cloak, revealing a large silver wristwatch. Pressing it, a giant hologram of the earth suddenly filled the room. I froze in my spot, and simply stared in awe. The person in the cloak seemed a little annoyed, as he quickly started pressing buttons on his wristwatch. Eventually, the hologram of the earth turned into a hologram of Hillwood. "There's been a glitch in the fabric of reality, somewhere around... here." saying that, the person in the cloak highlighted the street that passed by Slausens Ice-Cream Parlor. By now, I was just leaning against the crutch in complete silence. The person in the cloak seemed to notice this, and turned the projection off.

"That reminds me. I need you to take one of these..." the person in the cloak muttered, as it dug its hands into its pockets. "Oh, here it is. In one hand I've got a blue pill. In the other, is a red one. Which one would you like?" it asked, holding the aforementioned pills out in front of me. I frowned. "What do they do?" I asked. I was sure that I had seen this happen somewhere before.

The person in the cloak chuckled. Which sounded disturbing coming out of the voice modifier, but I ignored it. "They both do the same thing; I just wanted to know what color you'd like. I'll just give you the blue one..." he said, as he buried the red pill back into his pocket. "It was developed by an old friend of mine. It's a small capsule containing a few thousand microscopic synthetic organisms. They'll speed up the healing process by about a thousand percent." it explained.

With that said, I still remained a little bit dubious. I had seen enough after school specials to know that taking pills from strangers was never a good idea. That rule probably applied especially to shadowy figures in cloaks. Still, I picked up the pill out of the persons hand, and held it up to my eyes. The person in the cloak pulled out a magnifying glass from its pocket, and handed it to me. "Here, have a look through this if you don't believe me. Just press the button on the handle to see past the capsule, and press it again to zoom in." it explained.

I held the magnifying glass in front of the pill, and did as the person asked. Almost immediately, the glass was filled by images of thousands of small silver creatures swimming amongst each other. "Wow..." I muttered. I handed the person the magnifying the glass, and after a deep breath, I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed it.

I could feel it immediately. All of a sudden, the pains in my sides were gone. And the dull throbbing in my leg disappeared a few seconds after that. "Okay, now let's just get that cast off." The person said, aiming its watch at my leg.

"You might want to try and stay still"

With that said and a press of a button, a small red laser beam shot out of the watch, cutting the cast off in a matter of seconds. Once it was over, wriggled my leg in its spot. "Wow..." I muttered for the second time in the past few minutes. I looked back at my bed to thank him or her, only to find that the bed was empty. Then, the door opened. Revealing the intimidating form of the burly nurse from last night.

"Hey, kid! What have you done to your cast!" she demanded. "No! I-" I started, only to find that she had frozen in mid-snarl. Her eyes seemed to have a spinning swirl inside of them- as if she had been hypnotized. Suddenly, the person in the cloak appeared next to me. "Yeah, we'd better... go. Here- I've got a change of clothes for you." It said, before giving me my clothes, all neatly folded from their place in my drawers at home.

Before I could fully comprehend the situation, I was running as fast as I could down the empty hallway and tripping over myself every few seconds, as I struggled to put my clothes on over the hospital gown, until I was finally out of the hospital doors. I stopped at the side walk, gasping for air, as the person in the cloak waited impatiently for me across the street.

"Hurry up! We have to get this done and get back before that nurse snaps out of it!" the person in the cloak yelled. "What did you do to her!" I yelled back between deep breaths for air. "She'll be fine, I promise- now let's go!"

With a sigh, and after looking both ways, I ran across the street and joined the person in the cloak by a mailbox. The person in the cloak checked his wrist watch, and then glanced back at me. "Can you show me how to get to Slausens Ice Cream Parlor?" he asked. I nodded.

"Okay- Lead the way.

* * *

As it turned out- When I had said that I could find Slausens from the hospital, I was drastically mistaken. We had checked the map on the person in the cloak's wristwatch about a dozen times, attracting more than one strange look from passerby's. By the time we did find it, the sun was setting off in the distance.

"Finally..." the person in the cloak muttered. "Now, keep an eye out for anything that looks out of place." I nodded a glanced around. The streets were oddly barren, and the light in Slausens' had been turned off. I frowned for second. Slausens Ice Cream Parlor didn't close this late. Was that all it was?

"Uh- Hey Arnold?" the person spoke up from behind me. "Yes, what is it?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Slausens.

"I think I found it."

I looked away from Slausens to ask him what it was, and stopped short. Because there in front of us stood a hulking pile of brown living goo. It was utterly formless, but it did have a pair of beady yellow eyes on its top. It opened its gaping wide mouth slowly, and let out a low wet growl. I glanced at the person in the hood, and he or she glanced back at me. And although I couldn't see its face, I had a feeling that it said the same thing that mine did.

"Run!" I yelled. We sped across the road; I could feel lumps of brown goo whizzing pass me very quickly. "The park!" the person yelled, and I followed him down the road. The brown goo creature was following us fast, and I had barely any time to wonder how the person in the cloak knew where the park was, but not Slausens Ice-cream Parlor. When we finally made it to the park, the goo creature was still trailing behind us.

"Arnold!" the person in the cloak yelled. "I want you to climb into a tree or something- I'll distract this thing."

Panic took over my urge to help, and I made my way up the tallest tree in the park. Balancing carefully on the branches, I looked down at the person in the cloak. The brown goo creature had left a trail behind itself, and it was now towering over the person in the cloak with a strange sort of malicious glee.

"I'vvveeee foooooouuund yooooouuuu..." It gurgled. The person in the cloak stood still. "What are you?" he or she demanded. The goo creature chuckled to itself. "I... aaaaam yooooouuuur doooom!" It bellowed. From its mouth it launched another large pile of goo, hitting the person in the cloak in the chest- hard enough to send him tumbling backwards into the tree. Sparks of electricity began to run all across the person's cloak, as it stood itself back up.

"Theeeeerrrrreeee isssss noooo escaaaaape..." the goo creature moaned. The person in the cloak looked up at me. "Hurry! Give me a hand up!" yelled the person. Keeping my legs tangled on the branch, I leant down just low enough to reach the persons hand. In a few seconds, the person had scrambled up the tree with me, and the two of us climbed higher to the top to get away. I could hear the creature let out a long roar.

Then, nothing. I glanced down from the tree onto the ground, to see that the creature was slithering away. I waited a few seconds, and then faced the person in the cloak. "What is that thing?" I demanded. The person in the cloak shook its head. "I don't know... but I do know one thing." it said as it wiped a small bit of the brown goo off of his cloak and licked it, "that brown stuff... its chocolate."

I blinked. "It's a _chocolate monster_?" my head started to spin. I had a fairly high threshold for the weird but this… I shook it off, and looked back at the person in the cloak. Now wasn't the time to freak out.

"What do we do?" I asked.

The person in the cloak muttered something under its breath. "That chocolate seems to have affected my abilities, and I couldn't bring much of anything here from the other world-" the person in the cloak explained. "I've gotta think…" the person went quite.

A soft breeze brushed against the leaves in the tree, sending a cold shiver running down my spine. Suddenly, I could feel a light bulb light up somewhere in the midst of my mind.

"Hey- uh… person in the cloak?"

"Yes?"

"I've got a plan."

* * *

I stood out in the middle of the road, with my hands in my pockets. "Oh, boy. I sure hope there aren't any chocolate monsters out here. I sure am scared of chocolate monsters." I said, just loudly enough that my voice echoed down the empty streets. I frowned. "Yeah- I hope that the monster won't suddenly appear behind me now that I've been lured into a false sense of security!" I yelled.

Suddenly, I felt something warm and gooey land with a small 'plop' on top of my head. I looked up and, sure enough, I was met with the frenzied grin of the giant chocolate blob.

"RAAAARRRGGGHH!" it bellowed.

"Uh… hey." I said, nervously. "Wha-… what's up?" And, breaking the record for the fastest I had ever moved- I ran. I could feel the chocolate monster trailing behind me, all the way into Slausens. 'Boy I hope this works…' I thought, as I jumped over the counter and in to the kitchen. I took me few seconds to find it, but luckily- the person in the cloak had already opened the door. Slowly, I stepped into the walk in freezer. The cold made me shiver instantly. Perfect.

"Fooooouuunnnnd yoooooooou."

I turned around, and met the chocolate monsters eyes. "What are you doing?" I asked. "What are you?"

The chocolate monster seemed amused. "I 'm abooooooouuuuut to absoooorrrrrb you, and have yooooouuuu joooooiiiin my arrrrrrmmmmmy. I cannnnnnooooot eveeeeeen conceeeeeiiiiive of a moooore perfect speccccccimon than…. The coooooore." It groaned. I hesitated, and the monster took that as its opportunity to strike. I ducked just in time to avoid being hit by a glob of chocolate. Slowly, the chocolate monster slithered into the freezer to join me, with a truly disturbing smile.

"Now!" I yelled. The freezer door started to move, and so did I. Dodging a swipe from the monster, I fell into the icy floor- sliding out of the freezer just as the door shut with a hiss. The person in the cloak closed the latch on it.

"We did it!"

"Doooo nooooot ceeeelebraaaate ssssoooo sooooon…." The chocolate monster hissed from behind the door. I looked through the small glass window in the middle of the freezer door, to see the chocolate monster quickly gathering frost. "I belieeeeve yoooou knooooow thiiiissss…." The monster opened its mouth, and inside of it I could just make out the face of… chocolate boy?

"Thiiiissss chiiiiiild gaaavvve meee thisss fooorrrm… It wiiill freeeeeze…."

I could feel the person in the cloaks eyes burning into the back of my head. I didn't have to think about, and I didn't so much as hesitate. I opened the latch on the freezer door, and took several steps back. The door startled to rattle, and then finally- it opened with a long high pitched wine.

"Yoooouuu aaaaarrrre miiiiiine! MIIIIINE!" The monster bellowed, as it lunged at me from the entrance of the freezer. I stood, frozen to the floor. Time seemed to stop, and my life flashed before my eyes.

"_I… My name's Arnold!"_

"_Abner, stop it- I'm awake! I'm awake!"_

"_Sorry Grandpa-"_

"_Gerald, are you okay?"_

"_Whatever you say, Helga-"_

And as suddenly as everything passed by my eyes, it stopped. I felt a rush of cold water spray against my face, and I could hear the monster yelling in protest. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was again. By the wall, the person in the cloak was holding a fire hose spraying the chocolate monster with a fountain of water without mercy. The chocolate began to twist in its place, until finally falling out of its shape, and into a puddle of brown water on the floor. Chocolate boy was lying in the middle of it, looking like he was having a particularly pleasant dream.

Slowly, I stood myself up and glanced over at the person in the cloak. "Thanks…" I muttered. I couldn't quite find my voice yet. The person in the cloak seemed to understand. "You're welcome. You did well Arnold-" he started, only to be interrupted by a high pitched squeal.

"Wot've you gone and bloody done? I was all perfect and you lot 'ad to go and ruin it!"

It took me a few seconds to realize that the high pitched voice was coming from the puddle on the floor. The person in the cloak let out a long sigh, and handed me a sponge. "Could you help me clean this up and carry this kid back to his house?" he asked. I looked at the puddle on the floor, which was no muttering something about hoe it 'would have gotten away with it-' in a thick British accent.

"Yeah… okay."

"Hey, what're you bloody doin'? No, no- Don't squeeze me into that sink! Wait, can't we talk about this? We're all sentient- hey! Stop it! Curse yooooou! Curse you all!"

* * *

The chocolate monster had been an 'abstract effect of a glitch in the fabric of reality' or at least that was the explanation that the person in the cloak had given me. I had done my best to keep up with the story- but it was hard. Something about the chocolate on chocolate boys mouth getting a mind of its own… and then trying to take over the world.

That in itself wasn't nearly as disturbing as the fact that the person in the cloak had dismissed the whole incident as a 'typical result'. That was nothing short of scary.

The next day I was released from the hospital after making a mysterious 'complete recovery' overnight. I returned to the boarder house with Grandma and Grandpa, with my head still swimming in thoughts.

"Say- Shortman, did you ever remember what it was that got you all beat up like that?" Grandpa asked me when we finally made it back to the boarder house. "No, Grandpa. I must have just tripped or something- but I still don't remember anything about it."

Grandpa looked at me with a worried look, held it for a few more second- and then smiled. "Whatever you say, Short man. Whatever you say."

When I opened the door too my room I was taken over by an enormous sense of calm. It was almost as if it were all just a dream that- then, I noticed the person in the hood, standing by the window. "I've got some bad news for you, Arnold." The person in the cloak said, as it turned around to face me.

Slowly, the person in the cloak pulled back the hood of his cloak- and looked at me with a pair of serious sapphire blue eyes.

"It's still just the beginning."

* * *

_Somewhere beneath the city of Hillwood, in the sewers- something pulled itself out of the run way of sewage. Breathing heavily, the creature started to smile. "I… I've done it! I've pushed my molecules together into a solid mass… those children will rue the day that they tangled with chocolate. RUE IT!"_

"_Please be quiet__."_

_The chocolate monster turned around to find a petite young girl standing in front of it with her hands on her hips. "You do not give demands to CHOC-" the creature was cut short, when the little girl waved a hand over its mouth._

"_See? That's better. Now… I want you to listen… very carefully…"_

* * *

**_AN: I'm really sorry that this feels so rushed, but to be honest... I looked over it a few times, and I just decided that I couldn't do any better. Now just in case you were curious, every chapter will begin with a mini-story in italics, about Helga and Arnold. These won't always connect to the chapter itself- but they do connect to the main plot in a convuluted way. Thank you for reading, please review!_**


	3. Chapter 3

_He had expected this. Struggling to pull glue and glitter out of his hair, Arnold couldn't help but ask himself the same question that Gerald had been asking him for as long as they had known each other. Why? _

_Why did Arnold have to keep being nice to Helga? He always knew what came next. An insult, a shove and sometimes even a visit from ol' Betsy and the five avengers. Yet still, every time he ran into her, he couldn't help but be nice. Perhaps it just wasn't in his nature to hold a grudge. But recently, Arnold had begun to think that maybe it was something a little more complicated than that._

_Arnold winced, as he pulled out a sizeable chunk of his hair. The glue had already dried, and at this point, it looked like he would have to ask Grandma for another haircut. Arnold felt another surge of anger run through him like a jolt of electricity._

_This was ridiculous. Obviously, there was no way that they could be friends- no matter how much he tried. Almost everybody else in the school had taken to avoiding the grumbling Helga G Pataki. And maybe now... it was time for him to do the same. He'd had enough of her._

_The pushing, the tackling, the spit balls, the 'kick me' signs... all of that and more._

_Arnold nodded to himself. This was it. He was giving up. He could feel a twinge of sadness somewhere deep down inside, but he ignored it. Now, he was going to walk back into class- and no matter what she said, he would ignore her. Maybe, she would soon do the same._

_"She doesn't mean it you know."_

_Arnold jumped in his place. Turning around, he was met with an oddly familiar face. She was in his class too- but she wasn't always there. And whenever she was, she always seemed quite and preoccupied._

_Her name was... wait, what was it?_

_"I'm sure that she does not mean to bully you so much." she said. Arnold frowned. "Oh yeah! So, she just pushes me around on accident? She just- she just makes me miserable to pass the time!" he yelled. The girl flinched and took a step back._

_"Sorry... I shouldn't have yelled..." he said. "It's just... I always thought the same thing, you know? That maybe somewhere deep down... she was better than she made herself out to be. But, I mean... maybe there isn't... maybe she's just 'Helga G Pataki' and that's it..."_

_The girl shook her head. "Don't give up, Arnold. You never give up on anything, right?"_

_When Arnold didn't say anything back, the girl turned around to leave. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision, Arnold" _

_Arnold kept staring out the window, at the trees outside. Slowly, he ran a hand through his hair. _

_"Never give up, huh?"_

_And then, he realized something. The glue *hadn't* completely dried. It had waited until this exact moment to dry. With his hand firmly stuck in the midst of his long blonde hair, Arnold grits his teeth. "Helga G Pataki..." he mumbled. _

_"Eep."_

_Arnold looked behind him, to see Helga herself covering her mouth and struggling not to laugh. "Th-that's some fancy new haircut you've got there, football-head!" she laughed. Arnold growled._

_"I'll get you for this, Helga G Pataki! Hey! Get back here! Helga! HELGA!"_

_And so, Arnold spent the last few remaining minutes of his school time, chasing a giggling Helga G Pataki down the halls with his hand stuck in his glittery hair. Watching from inside the classroom, Lila smiled to herself._

_"So cute..."_

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, and rolled over underneath my blanket. It was cold that morning, and since the alarm clock hadn't sounded just yet, I decided to stay and enjoy the warmth for just a little bit longer. Whenever I was alone, my thoughts always seemed to wander elsewhere. Especially in the quiet. Quiet was rare in the Sunset Arms Boarding House, but it did happen. Usually in the morning- before Oskar and Ernie could start their beginning of the day argument or Grandma could start using the blender to make 'energy drinks' out of vegetables, fruits, eggs and anything else she could find in the back of the refrigerator.

Under normal circumstances, my thoughts would generally begin to drift into two painful territories. The first one was my parents. Where they were, if they were okay- or if they even remembered me anymore. The second was what I only referred to in company as 'the girl'. The person who seemed to sneak into my mind at every chance she got. She was like a car jacker, holding up the process of my thoughts and stealing them for the rest of the day. I shook my head, in another attempt to stop myself from thinking about her again. It was always lead to trouble.

Instead, I began to concentrate on the feeling that was gnawing away at the back of my mind. I was was forgetting something. I frowned and tried to think.

I knew that it was a school day. That I would have to bring an extra quarter to the cafeteria for pizza day... I slid my hand out of the safety of the blanket and felt around the shelves sitting next to me. Soon enough, I could feel the familiar stitching of my blue hat, sitting peacefully next to the picture of my parents that Grandpa had found some time ago.

They were safe. And I certainly hadn't forgotten the thing about the glitches in reality that could give chocolate sentience and megalomania. So what was it? It was something important. Something-

"HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD!"

With a single swift movement, I slammed my hand on the head of my alarm clock, bringing it to a quick stop. Okay- maybe it would come to me later. After I had had slowly made my way out of bed, I put my hat back on my head and walked over to the wardrobe. As usual, it was filled with old 'hand me down' clothes. Some where my fathers, and some where Grandpa's. There was also a frilly pink dress it there- I still didn't know how or why that was there, but I guessed that it had been put there by Grandma for whatever reason. The same thing could probably be said for the leprechaun outfit and the wizard's robes.

I got changed in a hurry, not wanted to spend too much time in the cold without any clothes on. With that, I closed the wardrobe just in time for Grandpa to burst in through the bedroom door.

"Wake up, Short-man! Grandma made spaghetti tacos again!" he announced. I smiled and nodded, and followed Grandpa down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Are you sure you want to go to school today, short man? You've only gotten out of the hospital yesterday..." Grandpa said. "Sure, Grandpa. I'll be fine." I said. That seemed to make him feel better, because he immediately started yelling at Ernie for eating Grandpa's taco's before we reached the table.

The rest of the morning continued on as they always did. Soon enough, I found myself standing in front of the door, putting on a scarf and opening the door. The animals rushed past me and then after a few seconds- quickly rushed back inside. Apparently, it was too cold for them, too.

The trek to the bus stop seemed to take forever, so I was very happy to find that the bus driver had decided to turn the heater on when I got inside the bus. I walked briskly past the familiar faces of Stinky, Sid, Curly, Eugene, Sheena, Rhonda and Phoebe muttering a quick 'good morning' to each of them, before I found my seat next to Gerald on the second row closest to the back.

"Hey, Arnold."

"Morning, Gerald."

We did our secret handshake, and I sat down beside him. "Hey, man. I heard that you were in an accident or somethin' the other day. What happened?" he asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't really remember... Grandma said that I was beat up when she found me but- it wasn't that bad."

Gerald blinked. "I'm sorry, beat up? Wha- Man, that's really bad! Do they know who did it? Do you?" he asked. I shook my head. "No... I don't really remember much about it." I said. Gerald began to look at me with a weird look on his face. "How're you not concerned about that? You were beat up- you can't even remember anything about what happened- and you're like... you don't care?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know what happened, so what's there to worry about?"

"Mmm, mmm... You worry me, Arnold. You know that?"

I shrugged, and changed the subject. There had been time enough for us to discuss the finer points of super hero movies and the new 'Ultimate' Yahoo soda, before the bus arrived at the school and the morning bell rang. So far, things were progressing... normally. I didn't really know what I was expecting- after the warning that the boy in the cloak had given me yesterday, I had almost expected to see it raining chickens or something.

Looking back- I think I would've actually preferred that.

* * *

"Then, everything explodes in a hellish fireball of sadness and anguish!"

"How is a fireball sad? Or... Anguished?"

"No-no, I mean, the fireball causes sadness and anguish."

"Why? Did it steal the last piece of pizza or somethin'?"

"No-"

"Oh, so the fireball is a metaphor for the collapsing of human empathy to the breaking point that results inevitably in war?"

"What? No! It's like, a real ball of fire. And it destroys everythi-"

"Where did you say you saw this again?"

"In a dream!"

"Really? Usually I jus' dream o' stuff like lemon puddin' or baseball. Or, y'know, both."

"Well I-"

"Did you dream it while you were in class?"

"Of course he didn't- you know we can't sleep in class! We get sent to Wartz's office fer that!"

"I can sleep with my eyes open, so it's no problem for me!"

"But Curly, no one's ever even seen yer eye's before."

"That reminds me, Sid. If you would like me to recreate that particular projection of your consciousness, I have some dynamite at home that I found in the sewers last week."

"Curly, you know we don't like it when you get that look in your glasses..."

I listened to the chatter of the classroom with my head down on my desk. I had started to feel tired the minute I stepped into the school building. I yawned, and did my very best not fall asleep on my feet on the way to class with Gerald, and now I was getting dangerously close to falling asleep. I tried to do my best to keep myself awake, knowing that if I really did fall asleep in class- I would wake up with magic marker drawings on my face, spit balls in my hair and a 'kick me' sign taped to my back. And only most of that would be from Helga G Pataki.

When the door finally opened again, the class began to quiet down.

"Alright class, sit down. I have an announcement." came a voice from in front of the class. It took some effort for me to lift my head up off the desk and face the front. "Ah!" I yelled. Everybody else turned to face me, but I ignored them as I stared in awe at the sight of our teacher. Or at least, the kid who was dressed up as the teacher.

The boy in the cloak was now dressed in a pair of ugly brown boots with pants to match, with a white shirt and a blue sweater-vest over it. The boy looked at me with an apologetic smile, and then called the attention back to himself. "Now, Arnold, could you please keep your voice down? Class is starting." he said. I glanced around at everybody else.

Nobody, not even Gerald, was looking at the person behind the teacher's desk like they were looking at anybody other than Mr Simmons. I glanced back at the boy in the cloak- or, the boy in the Mr Simmons costume- and muttered an apology.

The boy in the Mr Simmons costume smiled, and pulled a pile of papers out of his desk. "Okay class- good news. It's time for another pop quiz!" he announced.

Everybody in the class let out a simultaneous groan. As the boy in the Mr Simmons costume handed out the test papers, he stopped by my desk. "Stay behind for a minute after class... There are a few things that need- well... explaining." he whispered. I nodded, and picked up the piece of paper.

'Under what circumstances can thermo-nuclear fusion be achieved?'

I swiftly fit my pencil behind my ear, and ran my eyes across some of the other questions on the sheet. None of them looked to be any easier. With a low sigh, I clutched my pencil in my hand- and started work. After the first few questions, my hand was already throbbing with pain. "Crimany..." I muttered to myself.

* * *

"HOOOORAY!"

The second the recess bell rang all around the school, my fellow classmates ran out of the classroom like their lives depended on it. Since I still felt like my wrist was on fire- I couldn't really blame them. Once the classroom was empty, the boy in the Mr Simmons costume approached me with an apologetic smile.

"How are you, Arnold?" he asked. I looked at him with my tired eyes, and shrugged. "I'm sorry Arnold-" he started, "After the chocolate incident, I was told to take a more linear role in your day to day mechanics."

"What happened to Mr Simmons?" I asked. The boy in the Mr Simmons costume chuckled. "Oh, he received tickets to a month long summer vacation cruise this morning. He'll be fine- he's got his entire family to keep him company there, after all." he explained. I cringed. 'Poor Mr Simmons... I hope they have a lot of aspirin on board that ship...' I thought to myself. "Anyway, the reason I asked you to stay behind- beyond this explanation- is to ask you to keep an eye out for anything... strange. The radar device that we have to detect changes in the fabric of reality cannot detect problems until they are... severe. Okay?"

I nodded dumbly. "I think so... Uh- So like, things like cats and dogs raining from the sky... Helga being nice to me- things like that?" I asked. The boy in the Mr Simmons costume nodded and turned to back to his desk when something clicked in the back of my mind.

"Hey- what's your name?" I asked. The boy in the Mr Simmons costume froze in his spot, and then turned back around to face me. "Well, Sally told me that I'm not supposed to tell you my real name until the end... uh- why don't you just give me a name? You know- something cool... something... dark and shadowy?" he asked.

I thought for a second, but surprisingly- the name came rather quickly.

"Isaac."

The boy in the Mr Simmons costume laughed. "Heh- okay, that... that's good, Arnold. Very good. Oh! Can you forget me mentioning Sally just before? If she finds out I referenced her too early she'd probably boil me in oil or something." he asked. "Sure..." I trailed off. Isaac flashed me a smile, and then returned to his seat behind the teacher's desk.

"You had better get to recess, Arnold. You wouldn't want to miss too much of it, would you?" he asked. I nodded, and rushed out of the classroom and ran down the hall, ignoring the hall monitors yelling.

Hopefully, there would still be some pizza left...

* * *

I stared at the pile of grey goo that the cafeteria had placed on a small paper plate for me with a sense of melancholy. No kid liked missing out on pizza on pizza day.

I let out a low sigh, and joined Gerald at the table closest to the exit. "Hey, Arnold. Missed out on the pizza, huh? What did Mr Simmons want to talk about, anyway?" he asked. I shrugged and sat down. "He told me... to keep an eye out for anything strange..." I muttered. I didn't like lying to Gerald- or even telling him half-truths. But if this 'Sally' person could get angry enough to boil somebody in oil... maybe I'd play along with her secretive shadow-ey game for a little while.

Gerald blinked. "Something strange? What about that pop quiz he gave us this morning? That thing had words on it that I've only ever heard before on old episodes of Starr Drek!" he exclaimed. "Oh- and did you see Lila this morning? Talk about weird!"

"What about Lila?" I asked. Gerald smiled. "You haven't seen her yet? Man- go over there and check it out." he said, pointed towards the corner of the cafeteria. Ignoring the bubbling grey... stuff that was supposed to be my lunch, I stood up and walked over to the girl's side of the cafeteria. By the time I got there, there was a commotion in the corner. People were bunched around the two parties in a circle, all hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on. And to my surprise, there she was. Lila Sawyer. With an empty tray of grey stuff. And standing in front of her was Rhonda- who was apparently wearing Lila's lunch.

"I don't understand what your problem is, peasant. It is just another ugly little dress." Lila snorted. Rhonda looked so surprised, that she could barely form words. "Yo- wha-... I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST DID THAT!" Rhonda screamed. Lila grinned as Rhonda picked up her pizza and threw it at her. Lila dodged it coolly- and let the pizza slice land smack dab into the face of the closest spectator, which happened to be a pink faced Harold.

"FOOOD FIGHT!" he announced at the top of his lungs. With that, all hell broke loose. Pizza and grey goo filled the air, staining clothes and dissolving windows in an instant. Before I could so much as react to the sudden explosion of chaos, Lila grabbed my hand and started running toward the cafeteria entrance. "Follow me, football-cretin!" she ordered. I pulled back with all of my strength, only to find myself completely overwhelmed by her strength. "Stop- what- what'd you do to Lila!" I demanded. Lila stopped, and turned around to face me.

"What're you on about, cretin? I am Lila!" she growled. No- she most certainly was not. She was dressed up like Lila- but her hair and unibrow were a matching charcoal black-, and she had a short goatee on the end of her chin. "Now- shut yer face and follow me!" she yelled. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gerald approaching us.

"Hey what're you doing, Lila?" he asked. Lila whipped around and pinched the side of his neck. After a few seconds and a low whimper of 'mommy' Gerald fell unconscious. "Hurry the hell up, you worthless pig! We ain't got all bloody day!" she yelled, again.

Before I knew it, she had dragged me all the way out into the hallway. She looked around for anybody coming out of the cafeteria, and then threw me into the storage room like a ragdoll. "Alright, football-cretin! This time, my grand ambidextrous plans cannot fail!" she announced, before cackling like a maniac.

I blinked. "Uh... ambidextrous?"

"Silence!" she yelled. "You see, you may not have suspected this- but I am NOT the Lila that you know and love! And through the genius of my master plan- I shall now complete my genius plan!"

This time, I was silent. A few more seconds passed, as the silence became more and more awkward. "Uh..." I muttered. "Silence! I am getting there!" 'Lila' bellowed. With that, she started furiously rummaging through her pockets, until she pulled out a small silver ball. "Ah! Here it is! Now, prepare-" she was cut short, as the storage room door flung open, revealing the dishevelled form of Isaac, this time wearing his black cloak.

"Let him go, Alil!" he yelled.

It happened in an instant. The 'Lila' pulled out a weapon from her pocket, and launched a stream of red electricity into Isaac that sent him flying into the lockers behind him. And then, she picked up the silver ball and threw it at me.

As soon as it connected, everything went black.

* * *

"Arnold? Is that you?"

My eyes opened slowly, and I found myself inside a small grey room. The windows were barred, and taped to the giant metal vault-like door, was a sign that read 'Detention! Enter and Wait to Die!' I turned around again to face the source of the familiar voice.

"Oh, Arnold- I am ever so glad to see you. Do you know where we are?" asked Lila. I stared at her for a second, and then shook my head. "No... But I get the feeling that wherever we are... it's not good."

I heard somebody scoff from behind me. Lila and I turned around to find ourselves facing Harold. At least, a skinny version of Harold with a full head of long brown hair. "You don't know the half of it." He grumbled.

* * *

_TBC_

* * *

**AN: Yes- its a cliffhanger. The fanficiton readers worst enemy. I can at least assure you though, that I *do* have the next part more or less planned out and such, so it should be up soon. Also- I wrote a small Oneshot called 'Lighthouse Song' and um, if you guys would be so kind as to read and review that for me, it would be *greatly* appreciated. Oh! And review this too, of course. Thank you- R&R and Goodbye!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Arnold stared out at the sky through the skylight. The stars were out in bigger clusters than usual that night, and he couldn't help but notice that the moon was full. With a short gulp, he pulled the covers over his head. He knew that if he did eventually fall asleep, he would see nothing but visions of people turning into wolf-men, and howling through the night. And people being chased and mauled and-_

_He shivered, and pulled the covers over himself even further. He knew that he shouldn't have watched that were-wolf movie with Gerald last night… but something about that 'Adults Only' rating made it feel so alluring. _

_He sighed. "Okay- one more time." He told himself. His eyes closed slowly, as he tried to count pigs to get himself to sleep. Suddenly, he heard a long wolves howl echo throughout the city. His eyes opened wide, and he sat up. "AAAH" he screamed. From outside, he could hear the sound of hysterical laughter._

_Familiar hysterical laughter._

"_Helga!" Arnold hissed, "What're you doing up there?"_

_A part of the window opened up, and Helga G Pataki slid inside with a satisfied smile. "You're so gullible, Football head! Just because you saw some stupid movie- doesn't mean werewolves exist all of a sudden!" she huffed. She carefully made her way down the steps near the shelf. "What're you even doing here this late, Helga?" Arnold asked. "Won't your parents be worried?"_

_Helga snorted. "Yeah- as if. Bob and Miriam are too busy fighting to pay any attention to what I do." She boasted._

_If Arnold hadn't known her for so long, maybe he wouldn't have heard the twinge of sadness in her voice. But he did. "Well… you can stay here tonight if you like." He offered._

_Helga blushed, but turned around so that he couldn't see it. "No thank you, Football head. Who would want to stay at your dumb ol' place?" she asked._

_Arnold shrugged. "Hey- How did you know I saw that were-wolf movie?" he asked. Helga flinched. Uh-oh. She shouldn't have said that. Now he was going to figure out that she had spent the entire weekend following him, and writing love poems and clutching the picture of him she had in her locket to her heart- unless…_

"_What do you think, football head? I went to see it myself. I'm not a baby like you- I watch that sort of stuff all the time!" she boasted, again. Arnold raised his eyebrows. "Really? I didn't know girls liked that sort of thing…" he muttered in an innocent tone. Unfortunately, it hit a nerve._

"_I can be a girl and like were-wolves, and violence and stuff! I can like it plenty!" she yelled._

"_Whatever you say, Helga."_

_Suddenly, a great hair beast burst through the door with a loud roar. Helga- as if on instinct- jumped into Arnolds arms and the both of them let out a loud scream of pure terror. And then, Grandma switched the lights back on, and Grandpa pulled off the gorilla mask that he had worn that Halloween. The both of them burst into laughter at the look of shock on Arnold and Helga's faces._

"_Ahahaha! Let that be a lesson to you, short man! Never watch scary movies unless… You want to be scared!" he laughed. Grandma chuckled. "Say, Lieutenant… What is the princess doing with you here? In your bed? Alone in the dark… Hmm?" she asked._

_Helga blushed, and chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, you know- I was just uh… telling Arnaldo here the same thing- uh- don't go sneakin' into scary movies football head. Well! Now that that's out of the way, I'll just… uh… be goin'…" with that, Helga pushed past Grandma and Grandpa, out the door, down the stairs and off into the night._

"_I… I uh- learned my lesson Grandpa. I- I won't do it again…" said Arnold._

"_Huh? Oh- good, short man. C'mon, Pookie, let's go make sure that eyebrow girl's going to be alright." Said Grandpa. "Yes! Onward, to victory!" Grandma yelled._

_Once they had left, Arnold went to sleep. Now, he had something other than werewolves to dream about._

* * *

The detention room was a dull grey, and that- coupled with the barred windows and the chains strewn across the walls made it look more like a medieval jail cell than a classroom. I slowly slid out of my seat, and walked towards the window. Outside, the sky was a deep red.

"Arnold? Hey- Arnold!"

I frowned at the tall barbed wire fence that seemed to surround the entire school, and then turned back around to face the skinny, brown haired Harold. "Where are we?" I asked. The brown haired Harold smiled at me, baring a set of long triangular fangs. "Curious. You seem... unafraid. It is unsettling to see you so very settled, Arnold." he said in a deep, gravelly voice. Lila gulped.

"Yes- I'm certain that I too am curious... Harold... Where are we?" she spoke in a soft, scared voice.

The brown haired Harold stood up out of his chair, with a big arrogant smirk on his face. "Please, Miss Lila. Call me Dlorah. You, Arnold- can go ahead and do the same. In response to your questions I must say that you are... well- in a sense, you are in hell." he explained. Lila and I shared the same look of shock, when Dlorah burst into laughter.

"Ah-hahaha! If you could see your face! Ha!" Dlorah sputtered between intervals of hysterical laughter. "No-no, technically, you are merely in an opposite world. An alternate universe in which the people you know are different in subtle or unsubtle manners. You were both brought here- by your counterparts from this world. Alil, and Dlonra." he explained, again.

I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. That at least explained the black haired and goateed Lila that had started the food fight in the cafeteria. And Isaac had asked me to look out for weird stuff but... I frowned, and took a deep breath. I was about to open my mouth to say something- but Lila beat me to it.

"Why? Why Arnold and I?" she asked.

Dlorah shrugged. "Well- I theorized that the only way a universe could allow a being from an alternative universe to exist inside of it- is if they swapped places. In other words, it is possible that if my alternate version- I'm guessing his name is... Harold?- if we were to both be put in the same room, it would create a tear in the fabric of time and space and cause the universe to collapse in on itself. Quite simple- no?"

I shook my head. "No. No, it's not." I mumbled. I felt a rush of anger run through my veins. I wouldn't have felt so hopeless and frustrated if Lila weren't here with me. But since she was, it brought a whole host of worries to my already long list. I took a few deep breaths to let the emotion pass. Keeping myself cool was a skill that I had more or less honed from an early age. Sometimes it was easy, and sometimes it seemed next to impossible.

Luckily, I felt the agitation slowly wear off, and it was soon replaced by another thought. "You- you said the opposite versions of Lila and I- uh, Alil and Dlonra- that they managed too- um, switch themselves with us?" I asked.

"Yes, what's so hard to understand about that?"

"No- Nothing, I guess. But, why? Why'd they do it?" I asked. Dlorah stroked his chin for a minute and shrugged. "I don't know- probably to take over the world or something, right? That's what evil counter-parts tend to do." he said. Lila and I stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and then I ran my hand through my hair.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

* * *

Time in the small detention cell seemed to slow to a crawl. I knew that we needed to hurry and get back to our own world- I knew at least that much. But Dlorah wasn't much help beyond the occasional monologue or wise crack, and Lila hadn't said a word for what seemed like hours.

So, it was up to me. Unfortunately for us, I didn't have the ability to move through time and space at will. And as far as I knew, neither did Lila.

After a few more minutes of prodding, I had gotten Dlorah to tell me that Alil and Dlonra, the 'evil counterparts' of Lila and I, had managed to pull their 'switcheroo' as he put it, with a device that they had built in this room. But they had spent almost a year building it in secret- and something told me that I didn't have nearly that kind of time. I took another deep breath, to try and get the images of an evil version of Lila and I taking over the world out of my head.

Isaac had mentioned more than once that he wasn't from my world. How did he manage to get here? Did he use some kind of device- or was it something even more bizarre?

My thoughts were heading down yet another unnecessary direction. I grit my teeth and growled at myself. I couldn't let myself waver. I needed to concentrate. Maybe if I could find a way out of this place-

I was interrupted mid-thought by a familiar voice coming in through the intercom. "Dlorah, Dlonra and Alil- report to Lord Ztraw's office immediately." the voice boomed. I frowned. That voice... was that... Helga? Suddenly, the entire room began to shake. I heard a yelp from beside me, and glanced over just in time to see a giant tube come out of the ceiling and suck Lila into it in a short burst. I gulped, and looked up. Sure enough, there was another tube directly above me- and before I knew it, I felt my body fly through the air and into the tube.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" I yelled, as I was sucked into a maze of tubes. There were sharp twists and turn everywhere, and I could just make out the sound of Lila screaming somewhere behind me. And then, just as soon as the ride had started, it stopped. With me landing with a loud 'thud' on an ugly blue rug. Dlorah landed on top of me with an even louder thud, and was followed soon by Lila.

I winced. "Oww..."

"So nice of you to join me- trouble makers." a voice growled angrily from in front of me. I lifted my head up wearily, to find myself staring at- Principal Wartz. And other than the plaque on his desk that read 'Lord Ztraw'- everything looked exactly the same. Including 'Lord Ztraw'. He was the same sweaty, balding middle aged man that he was in my world. For some reason, that felt oddly comforting. At least not everything was different.

"Sir, I just sent them on their way."

"Yes, Agleh, I see that. You can go back to class now." said 'Ztraw'. I felt a rush of addrelin, and tried to push past Dlorah to see- but I barely caught a glimpse of her as she shut the door behind her. "Sit down, you three." Ztraw ordered. Lila and Dlorah slowly made their way off of me, and sat down on the seats directly in front of Ztraw's desk. I took a few seconds to recover, but I joined them soon after.

"Well, well, well. I suppose you thought that you could get away with it, hey Dlonra?" asked Ztraw. I blinked. "What do you mean? I asked. Ztraw snickered. "The old, change the color of my skin and eyes and grow blonde hair just to get out of clean up duty- you really thought I'd fall for a trick like that, Dlonra? That 'Enegue' boy tries that every day." he said with a smile.

I still didn't know what he was talking about, but I decided to let it go.

"What can we do for you, sir?" asked Dlorah in a polite voice. Ztraw scowled. "You know very well what I want. I want you to get started on your clean up duty! I want this place sparkling before everybody comes out for lunch. And if you fail again, you can expect to clean the entire town from head to toe. Understood?" he growled.

"Yeah, yeah, sure- sure." Dlorah responded. I could see Ztraws face begining to go red, so I stood up between them. "We'll get started right away, sir. Let's go, guys!" I said. Ztraw blinked in surprise. "Uh- yeah! You just- just do what... Dlonra... said..." Ztraw trailed off. I got the feeling that I had just shattered his entire world with that- I guessed that 'Dlonra' wasn't the type to give in so easily. Oh well.

I hastily grabbed Dlorah by the sleeve and dragged him out of the office before he could start an argument. Lila followed suit rather quickly. When I had closed the door to Ztraw's office behind me and we had taken a few steps into the hallway, I stopped and turned to face Dlorah.

"Okay, how do we get back to our own world, Dlorah?" I demanded. Dlorah huffed. "I told you- I don't know. Your counterparts took the only copies of the device that they made- you might be able to find the mark one but-"

"The mark one? What's that?" I interrupted.

"Let me finish! The mark one was the first version of the device that they made- but there's a problem with it. You use it, and it might get you to your world, but even on the off chance that you get there, well, you might end up completely destroying the fabric of time and space." Dlorah explained. Lila gulped. "Th-that wouldn't be good..." she mumbled. "Yeah, no kiddin'. Plus, I don't know where Alil put the thing... she said she threw it away, but I doubt it..." said Dlorah.

I frowned. "Lila, where would you put something you meant to throw away?" I asked. Lila thought for a second. "I'm certain that if I meant to throw something away, then I would have- but if... if she's the opposite then... Dlorah, can you show me where my- er, her locker is?" she asked.

Dlorah smacked himself on the forehead. "Of course! Alil always keeps a mountain of trash in her locker. Why didn't I think of that?" he asked himself. Lila nodded. "Yes, and I'm sure that I keep my own locker free of trash- so it only makes sense that my opposite... would do the opposite."

I smiled. "Alright, let's go."

It had taken a while for us to actually find locker. Lila had managed to unlock it on her first try. Apparently the locker combination was just the combination for her locker reversed. When we opened it however, all three of us were buried immediately by a massive pile of trash. Empty bottles of Oohay! soda, and hundreds of other candy bar wrappers and empty packets of chips, used tissues, toenail clippings- there was even a few clumps of dirt and hay in there. How the heck did Alil even manage to stick all of this junk in there in the first place?

We managed to pull ourselves out of the monstrous pile of garbage, and dusted ourselves off.

"Okay, what does it look like?" I asked. Dlorah grumbled to himself as he pulled out a few chunks of gum from his hair. "It looks just like a baseball. Just an ordinary baseball." he growled. I nodded, and began to wade through the mess. There were practically thousands of different bits of pieces in there. A bamboo butterfly net, a pair of white fairy wings, a book titled 'Invading for Dummies' and a red shirt with a yellow symbol on it. Finally, at the very bottom of the pile, I found it.

A baseball with the words 'Multiversal Transport' scrawled across it in messy black ink. "Is this it?" I asked. Dlorah nodded. "Yep- that'd be it. Now, I just want to warn you- if you survive this, and get to your own world- you'll have somewhere between ten minutes or thirty years to get Alil and Dlonra back here. 'Kay?" he asked. I nodded wearily.

"Good. Now just throw it on the ground- real hard. Oh, and you two'll have to hold hands." Dlorah explained. I gulped, and held out my hand to Lila, doing my best to hold back the embarrassment that was plastered on my face. Lila paused just before taking my hand.

"Why are you helping us, Dlorah- I'm certain that our counterparts are you friends, are they not?" she asked. Dlorah frowned. "Trust me. I'm helping you because they are my friends. There are reasons I didn't join 'em in the first place."

With that, Lila grabbed my hand and I... Dropped the ball.

* * *

_Colours of all kinds swirled around us like rainbow waterfalls. I couldn't feel my body anymore- all I could feel was the softness of Lila's hand. Voices began to fill my ears by the dozen. Some of them felt oddly familiar yet... unfamiliar._

_"Con-con-e-e-ennected- all- all-... all of us-s-s-s-s..."_

_The voices were broken up, and filled with static. _

_"The-the... nothingness grows- it- it- it- grows more- more- ... What can I do? What can I do? Wha-what ca-ca-can I d-do-do?"_

_Suddenly, everything began to slow down. And the voices were clear._

_"Is there any hope? I can't... I can't let them stay lost forever... I have to save them!"_

_It was Isaac. His voice was clean of the voice modifier that he usually wore- but somehow I could tell. His voice was sad. Beaten. I felt something in the pit of my stomach. He was in pain. I... could feel it._

_"You can save them- but if you want the nothingness to leave them alone... you must leave them. You must leave your loved ones behind. Let them forget you. Without you to act as a magnet... It shouldn't come back. What do you say ..." It was another voice speaking this time. A girl. She spoke Isaacs's real name but I couldn't quite make it out._

_And then..._

* * *

We were back. In the storage room where Alil had transported me into the other world. I glanced over, and found that Lila was standing beside me with wide eyes. "Wow..." she gasped. "I'm certain that- what I just saw... Arnold, that was one of the other worlds, wasn't it?"

I took a deep breath. "Sorry Lila- I'll tell you about it later. We've got to find our counterparts." I said. Lila nodded. "I'm sure you are correct, Arnold. But where do we start?" she asked. I thought for a second.

"The cafeteria." I suggested.

Lila and I opened the door and stepped into the hallway. On the wall and lockers in front of us, were black scorch marks, spreading across the wall, the ceiling and the floor. That's right- Alil had shot Isaac with some kind of laser... I looked around, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I gulped and kept on walking down the hall to the cafeteria.

After pushing open the double doors to the cafeteria, I was greeted by what looked like an utter war zone. There was pizza and grey goo everywhere. The floor was littered with cafeteria trays and groaning students. Everybody was covered from head to toe with food. I took a few careful steps inside, when I heard a familiar groan.

"Arnold? Man- is that you?" Gerald groaned. I carefully walked over to him, and knelt down beside him. "Are you okay, Gerald?" I asked. "No... I'm not..." He mumbled.

"Wha-what's wrong?" I asked.

"Your kneeling on my hair, man." he said. "Oh- sorry, Gerald." I said, as I helped him to his feet. Gerald was covered in grey goo, and his hair was hanging down over his face like a limp noodle. Gerald ran his hand through his hair, and shook his head around. Then, with a short 'thwip', his hair was back to normal. "What happened, Arnold? I saw Lila take you away and then- just, everything went crazy. I woke up and there was a food war goin' on. I haven't seen carnage like this since the mashed potato incident back in kindergarten..." he trailed off as he looked around the cafeteria.

Lila opened the doors and made her way over to me very slowly. "Oh my... I'm sure I haven't seen a scene like this since the mashed potato incident... Gerald? Are you okay?" she called out. Gerald turned around and gaped. "Wha- Lila? Your hairs all back to normal! Arnold! What's goin' on here, man!" he demanded. I smiled weakly. "I'm sorry Gerald. Lila. I'll answer you, I promise but I- we've got to find Dlonra and Alil before it's too late." I said.

"Who?"

All of a sudden the entire school shook with power. All of a sudden, it had begun to rain outside. Thunder and lightning exploded out of the sky almost out of nowhere. I gulped. "Something tells me they're on the roof..." I mumbled to myself. "You guys stay here! I've got to go!" I yelled, and ran towards the cafeteria doors as fast as I could.

"Wait, Arnold!" Lila yelled from behind me, "What about you?"

"I'll be fine-" I started to say, before slipping over on a pile of grease and landing face first into the floor. With a few grumbles, I stood myself back up and left the cafeteria. I wasn't sure, but I think that Lila and Gerald shared a worried look behind me.

* * *

There was something about the rooftop that made everything just a little bit more dramatic. The best example of that I could think of was the incident on the roof of the FTi building. But I tried not to think about that too often for... well, for more than one reason. By the time I had reached the rooftop of the school, the storm was in full swing. Streaks of lightning decorated the sky like stars- and the sun had been completely blocked out by thick black clouds.

"AH! MY OPPOSITE! WELCOME!" a deep voice yelled over the noise of the storm. A flash of lightning lit everything up for a second. And there, standing in front of me- was my counterpart.

Dlonra.

He had dark brown skin, and no hair on the top of his football shaped head. I could see the red in his eyes, and traces of facial hair on his face. He was wearing an eye patch over his left eye, and a heavy black trench coat.

"DLONRA! YOU'VE GOT TO GO BACK TO YOUR WORLD!" I yelled, as the noise from the storm began to worsen. "IF YOU DON'T, EVERYTHING'S GOING TO BE DESTROYED!"

"I COULD CARE LESS WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS PUNY WORLD! I WILL FIND ANOTHER! AND ANOTHER! AND I WILL REDUCE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM TO ASHES!" He yelled.

"WHAT! WHY! WHY WOULD YOU DESTROY SO MANY WORLDS!" I yelled back. Dlonra let out a long, loud laugh- that seemed to be bolstered by the loud claps of thunder.

"YOU CAN REALLY SAY SOMETHING SO STUPID! WHY DO YOU THINK! THIS WORLD, MY WORLD! YOU'VE SEEN IT! THE DARKNESS, THE HATRED, THE SADNESS- IT DETERIATES EVERYTHING! THERE IS NO ESCAPE! NOTHING ANYBODY CAN DO TO END IT, BUT END EVERYTHING!" Dlonra yelled. "HOW COULD YOU EVEN LIVE IN A WORLD THAT PERPETUATES SUCH NEGATIVITY ONTO GOOD PEOPLE! LIKE ALIL! AGLEH! EVERYBODY IS SO DAMN MISERABLE!"

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!" I yelled.

"BUT IT DOES! YOU DON'T THINK I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE! IT DOESN'T HEAL! NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, THEY'LL DIE! OUR PARENTS ARE LOST! AND WE HAVE TO STAND IN THE BACKGROUND AND WATCH EVERYBODIES LIVES ROT!" Dlonra screamed. "NOW WATCH! YOUR CAASI! ISAAC, RIGHT! BY DESTROYING HIM- I SHALL DESTROY ALL OF THEM! THE LAST CONNECTION TO THE MULTIVERSE!"

Another flash of lightning, and I could see Isaac strung up to an antenna jutting out the side of the school. I grit my teeth. Lightning was striking the antenna repeatedly, and I could see the jolts of electricity running through his body.

"HE IS SO POWERFUL, ISN'T HE! BUT JUST A LITTLE MORE... AND HE'LL BE FINISHED!" Dlonra yelled. "NO! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" I yelled back. But Dlonra wasn't paying attention to me anymore. He was too absorbed in watching the storm.

"ARNOLD! WATCH OUT!" yelled Gerald from the doorway behind me. I ducked just in time to avoid the edge of a sword. Glancing up, I could see Alil with a wicked grin on her face. "YOU WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH MY BELOVED, AR-NOLD!" she bellowed. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she lifted the blade back into the air, and swung it down at my face. Suddenly, though- it was stopped. Lila blocked the blow with her text book. With the sword still stuck into the middle of the book, Lila wrestled the weapon out of Alil's hands, and threw it over the edge of the building.

"YOU!" Alil screamed, as she tackled Lila to the ground. Lila wrestled around with Alil, dodging a volley of punches and holding her back at arm's length. "GO!" She yelled. I ran towards the antenna, dimly aware that Gerald was following close behind me. "ISAAC! ARE YOU OKAY!" I yelled. Isaac opened his eyes. "Ah! ARNOLD! STAY BACK!" he yelled. "YOU'VE GOT TO ACESS THE CONTROL PANEL AT THE BASE OF THE ANTENNE!"

I looked down at the base of the antenna. Sure enough, there was a small screen and a variety of buttons underneath it. I knelt down and squinted at the buttons. "I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONES TO PRESS!" I yelled.

"THERE IS NO STOPPING IT, ARNOLD!" yelled Dlonra.

I grit my teeth, and stood up to face Gerald. "GERALD! SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT A WAY TO DISABLE THAT MONITER, JUST ASK ISAAC- UH- THE GUY UP THERE, IF YOU NEED HELP!" I yelled. Gerald nodded and knelt down to immediately start pressing random buttons. "WORKING ON IT! YOU TAKE CARE OF EYE-PATCH KID!" he yelled back.

I turned to face Dlonra. He grinned, and threw me a sword. I caught it in one hand. "FIGHT ME, ARNOLD! LET ME SEE WHO IS THE MORE POWERFUL!" he yelled. I glanced down at the sword, and glanced back just in time to block a strike from Dlonra. "WHOA! CAN'T WE JUST TALK ABOUT THIS!" I yelled.

"NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK!"

I blocked another blow and ducked under another. This was insane. I'm nine years old- and I was fighting for not just my life- but apparently, the lives of an uncountably infinite number of people that existed in trillions of other universes. So, you know- at least there wasn't any pressure. I dodged another hit, and blocked another. Sparks were spraying all across the roof from the grinding of our swords against each other. And I was starting to run out of roof. Dlonra was pushing me into the corner- and there was nothing I could do.

"SO YOU DON'T HAVE ANY HOPE ANYMORE-" I yelled. "THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PUNISH EVERYBODY ELSE! YOU THINK WHAT YOUR DOING IS RIGHT! YOU'RE LYING TO YOURSELF, DLONRA! I KNOW IT CAN BE HARD TO THINK THAT THINGS'LL BE OKAY- TO HAVE HOPE- BUT YOU HAVE TO! YOU HAVE TO HOPE, AND YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER! IF YOU DO NOTHING BUT WATCH AND FEEL SORRY FOR EVERYONE, THEN IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT THINGS AREN'T GETTING BETTER"

I blocked a few more angry blows with the sword, and continued.

"HOW ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT THINGS ARE BAD WHEN YOU'VE ALREADY GIVEN UP!" I yelled.

"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT I'VE SEEN! WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!" he screamed back. "THEN- JUST TELL ME! I'LL HELP YOU, JUST- WHAT IS IT! WHAT'S THE PROBLEM!" I yelled. Suddenly, Dlonra's attacks stopped. "You... YOU WOULD HELP ME! ME WHO WISHES TO DESTROY THE EXISTANCE OF TRILLIONS!" he asked, incredulously.

"SURE! WHY WOULDN'T I!" I yelled back. "YOUR NOT EVIL, DLONRA. YOU'RE NOT THE BAD GUY! EVEN IF YOU DON'T SEE IT, I CAN!"

Dlonra smiled, and dropped his sword. "How very strange. I THINK- I THINK I MAY HAVE THOUGHT WRONG, ARNOLD! PERHAPS- PERHAPS YOU ARE THE STRONGER ONE!" Dlonra yelled. "BUT! I'M AFRAID I HAVE INVESTED TOO MUCH INTO THIS PLAN TO GIVE UP NOW!"

Dlonra charged at me with all of his might. In one fluid motion, I dodged him- forgetting that I was right by the edge of the building. As I watched him go over the edge, I grabbed his foot- barely keeping him from falling to his demise. "AGH! YOUR HEAVY!" I yelled. Suddenly, I felt somebody beside me. It was Alil. She grabbed his other foot and together- we slowly dragged him back on to the roof.

Alil and I fell on our back, taking long deep breaths.

"Thank you... for... saving... him..." Alil gasped.

"Sure..." I gasped.

The rain slowed to a stop, and finally- the clouds receded shining sunlight onto all of us. Dlonra looked up at the sky and gulped. "Oh boy..." he grumbled. "'Oh boy', is right- Dlonra" said a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around, and saw a familiar figure of a boy in a cloak. I glanced up at Isaac, who was undoing the ropes that had him tied to the antenna, and slid down to walk over to us. I looked back at the boy in the cloak and gulped.

'Oh boy...' I thought. 'There's two of them.'

"So," the new boy in the cloak started, "Dlonra's given you some trouble, Isaac?" he asked. Isaac rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah- Arnold gave me that name himself. I'm guessed you got called Caasi, right? Oh yeah- that's a lot better than Isaac." said Isaac.

I could practically see the new boy in the cloak's scowl- even though his face was shadowed by the hood of the cloak. "What are doing without the cloak on, Nerd-boy? We're supposed to be the shadowy mysterious guys in cloaks- part of that involves wearing the cloak." said the new boy in the cloak.

Isaac shrugged. "Arnold already remembers enough about me that the cloak is rendered redundant." he said. I glanced over at Isaac with a confused look on my face. 'Uh- I do?' I thought.

"Anyway- can you grab your version of Arnold and get out of here before- you know- the universe breaks?" Isaac asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Something told me that these two knew each other.

Yes I know. Something also tells me that I have a habit for stating- or at least thinking- the obvious.

In one fowl swoop, the new boy in the cloak grabbed Dlonra and Alil by back of their shirts, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. And just like that- it was all over.

"Uh- Arnold? You care to explain what's goin' on, here?" asked Gerald. Lila walked over and nodded. "I'm sure I would also like to hear an explanation as well, Arnold." she said.

I glanced over at them, and smiled sheepishly.

Okay. Not quite over.

* * *

_It took a while, but eventually Isaac and I had managed to explain the situation to Lila and Gerald in full. By the time I had told them about waking up in an alley way, and fighting off a chocolate monster- the school bell had already rung, and all of the food covered students had started they're long trek back home. Isaac had managed to turn his 'Mr. Simmons' illusion back on in time to explain to Principal Wartz that none of us had anything to do with the food war in the cafeteria._

_Luckily, Principal Wartz believed him._

_I asked Isaac about what we had seen on our way back to our own universe- but he told us that he wasn't allowed to explain. At least not yet. And then- he said something really disturbing._

_Apparently, now that both Lila and Gerald had been exposed to rips in time and space- the glitches in reality were going to start following them too. Which meant that apparently- just as Isaac had warned me before- this really was just the beginning._

* * *

**(AN: Yes, Yes- I've said the words 'this is only begining' about a half a dozen time now. Sorry- but those words just seem to find there way into the fantasy genre at every turn. And even I can't avoid it... Now- if anybody is worried about what ship's are in this story... please read the story summary. Thank you. And again I say- Please review. I've said it once and I'll say it again. I am not above begging.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Arnold and Gerald glanced at each other, and gulped. This was going to be the single most life threatening mission that they had ever undertaken. Slowly but surely, the two of them climbed over the old rusty gate and crept towards the Iam Estate. An old, abandoned house on the outskirts of the city. It had taken three buses and a lot of walking to make it this far- and they weren't about to back down now._

_It had all started, like a lot of the pairs problems, with a bet. If Gerald could catch a ghost with the GhostsuckerTM and prove once and for all that Iam Estate was haunted, he would get a years supply of Yahoo soda from Harold and Helga. But if they chickened out, they would be given an ultimate wedgie, the likes of which had never been seen._

_This time, it was Gerald who had made the bet- and although Arnold was a little less than willing to sneak out in the middle of the night to visit what could be a haunted house, he owed Gerald one from the last bet he had made with Helga. Which had ended with the entire street being scattered with ice-cream, and a less than amused Jolly-Olly Man._

_They approached the house with caution, and were surprised to find the door unlocked. Holding their breath, they took their first steps inside. Gerald fumbled with the flashlight, but eventually he was able to light the way ahead. After a moment of hushed conversation, they decided to go upstairs first._

_Everything was quite, save for the sound of the wood squeaking underneath their feet. All of a sudden, Gerald stopped in his tracks. "Did you hear that?" he asked. Arnold shook his head. The two stayed perfectly still. And then... "oh, Arnold..." a voice echoed throughout the old house._

_Arnold and Gerald turned to face each other. In a split second, they were both in agreement._

_With that, Arnold and Gerald turned and ran as fast as they could. And kept on running until they reached the first bus home._

_Meanwhile..._

_Harold, Sid, Stinky and Helga had been waiting for hours, dressed as ghosts, waiting for Arnold and Gerald. "Are you sure you saw them come in?" Harold demanded. Stinky nodded. "I'm as sure as I've ever bin'" he said. Sid gulped, and continued to try and calm himself down. Helga burst into the room in a huff. "Where the heck are those clowns?" she growled._

_Stinky shrugged. "Hey, Helga- what was that y'all were mutterin' to yerself before? Somethin' about Arnold?" he asked._

_"Your imagining things!" she bellowed._

_The four of them ended up staying there the whole night. And Arnold and Gerald were chased by Harold for the better part of the next day._

"_In a world… Where children aged between eleven and thirteen have a name all their own…"_

* * *

I shuffled past the first few rows of people making as little noise as possible. The lights in the movie theater had already dimmed for the movie trailers, and it would go completely black any minute now. And when that happened, any hope I had of finding Gerald and Phoebe in the sea of people would be completely lost.

The seats were squished tightly together, making dozens of people have to practically rub against one another as they fiddled with their popcorn and turned off their cell phones. I resisted the urge to groan. Normally, whenever Gerald and I went to the movies, we would play scissors, paper, and rock to figure out who had to go back to the snack bar to get the popcorn. It was never hard to find me or Gerald in a movie theatre, because if you didn't see Gerald tall hair first, you would see mine. Or my head at least. But in a sea of a hundred or so people, it was a lot more difficult than usual.

"_One tweenage girl is forced to make a decision… A decision that will change everything..." _

I scanned the backs of dozens of people for the fifth time, the popcorn and drinks feeling heavy in my arms. Finally, after what seemed like the third sweep all across the movie theater, I caught a glance of tall hair and an expensive looking shirt with a tuxedo printed on it. More than a little relieved, I squeezed past a few people until I found my seat next to Gerald. He muttered his thanks under his breath and Phoebe smiled sweetly. I sat down and let out a deep breath.

That was when I felt an all too familiar chill run down my spine. I gulped, and slowly turned my head to the seat behind me.

"Eyes on the screen, football head!"

"_Tweenage Drama! Zombies, Monkeys and Robots! Coming soon… To a theater near you…"_

Helga crept over the seat in front of her and sat in the empty seat next to me. "Hey Pheebs…" she whispered to her friend a few seats away from her. "Oh, hello Helga. Did you decide to watch the movie with us after all?" asked Phoebe. Helga gave a nonchalant shrug, which Phoebe seemed to accept as a 'yes'. With that, she took my popcorn and propped her feet up on the chair in front of her. I opened my mouth to say something, but decided against it at the last minute.

As the lights finally fizzled out, and the movie started- I did my best to relax my features. It wasn't easy though. Helga had already taken my box of popcorn, and she was chewing it fervently between muttering to herself and being completely engaged in the movie. Her eyes shimmered in the light of the movie screen, her features reflecting each and every reaction she had to every scene. It shifted from happy, to sad and to anxious. And finally, when the male lead and the female lead embraced underneath the words 'The End' sprawled across the screen, she looked completely elated.

I smiled. She could be so sincere sometimes. I wish-

...

Never mind.

At some point in the movie, I found my eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Finally, I gave in. Usually, whenever I fall asleep I find myself having one out of two dreams. I can see the plane taking off- my parents flying off into an abyss. And no matter how fast I run, or how much I scream- they won't come back. And I have to watch them disappear forever. That one… is more like a nightmare than a dream. One that I've had for as long as I can remember. The other one is a little more… blurry. I'm sure I can see it clearly when I'm asleep but when I wake up, it all disappears. I think I remember… an umbrella. But that's about it.

This time though, I dreamt about… nothing. It's usually rare for me to have a dreamless sleep. But it seems like ever since I met Isaac… that has changed. At least Gerald and Lila know a few things about what's going on now… Actually, it's been almost a week since that incident with Dlonra. Since then, Isaac had explained everything to Gerald and Lila- and the four of us had been having group meetings at Slausens Ice Cream Parlor every day to discuss whatever strange thing had happened in the city. So far… there had been a lot.

Across town, there had been sightings of boxes floating around and attacking people. Gerald had also heard of a knew graffiti artist that had been drawing a blue superhero all over the city. And that was only the beginning. Gerald had always had a strange ability to absorb tall tales almost from thin air- but even he was beginning to be overwhelmed by it all. And they just kept on coming.

Isaac knew more than he was telling us- but if he was really who I thought he was-

"Wake up, football head!"

I opened my eyes slowly. Helga was standing infront of me with her hands on her hips, her face a deep shade of red. "What're you staring at? Hurry up! Pheobe and Tall Hair Boy are waiting." She huffed. I nodded warily, and rubbed some of the sleep out of my eyes.

"How was the movie?" I asked. Helga flinched. "I did not!" she yelled. I gave her a puzzled stare, but she simply folded her arms across her chest and refused to speak. Her cheeks seemed to get redder by the minute. I shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say, Helga." I said.

By the time we had reached the lobby, Helga seemed to have returned to normal. Soon enough, she and Pheobe were busy talking outside, leaving Gerald and I all alone.

"Hey, sorry about that man- Pheobe sort of sprung it on me last minute that Helga G Pataki was going to show up. She do anything annoying?" asked Gerald. I shook my head. "I sort of fell asleep in my chair… but I don't think she did anything too bad, Gerald." I said. Gerald nodded. "Yeah, you need to start getting more sleep, man. Look, I know that the freaky things happening in the city are probably bugging you out a bit but-" Gerald cut himself off mid-sentence. "Hey, what's that red stuff on your face, man?" he asked.

I frowned, and rubbed the side of my face with my hand. Sure enough, my hand was quickly smeared with red… stuff. I caught Gerald giving me a knowing smile. "What?" I asked him. My voice had more of an edge to it than I had intended, but luckily- he didn't seem to notice. "Oh, you know- I was just thinking that maybe you were 'annoying' each other tonight is all." He said with a smug smile.

I grit my teeth and shook my head.

"It's not like that, Gerald. Not at all."

Gerald frowned, but stopped short of saying anything else. Gerald and I had been friends for as long as either one of us could remember. But even with such a strong friendship, their were still a few vulnerabilities that had to be handled with extreme care. Gerald had a few, I only had two. My parents and-

Anyway, we had long since agreed not to 'pry' into the others secrets unless asked, point blank. It was a kind of 'treaty' drawn in crayon by us when we were seven. Brainy had been the witness to the signing, as he had been for the 'Great Peace Movement' between Sid, Stinky and Harold in the first grade.

And so, we waited for the girls in awkward silence. For a moment, everything seemed almost... surreal. Gerald and I waiting impatiently for our dates while they-...

I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Slowly, it spread to my stomach until I felt a sudden urge to throw up. Suppressing anger and confusion like this was... more than a little unhealthy. I'd told more than one of my friends this before. If you suppress strong emotions for too long, sooner or later they'll explode- and more than likely, you'll embarrass yourself as a result. It was a lesson that my friends and I seemed to learn over and over again- but I just couldn't help myself.

I secretly prayed for a distraction something to keep my mind away from the head-ache inducing topic of Helga G Pataki. "Hey, Arnold?" Geralds voice snapped me out of my trance. I blinked. "Yeah?" I asked. "Listen, Helga Pheobe and me... we're going to take a taxi home- split the fare and all. You going to be alright?" he asked.

I nodded. "Sure Gerald. Oh, and that red stuff on my face was just some melted candy I had in my hands too long- okay?" I asked. Gerald shrugged.

"Whatever you say, man."

I was tempted to tell him that it had been a toffee apple that Helga had licked and stuck to my face while I was sleeping- just to put a stop to any of the 'ideas' that might've been running through his mind at the moment- but I decided against it. Something told me that he wouldn't believe anything I had to say on the matter.

As I walked down the streets of Hillwood, I still felt uneasy. I didn't like keeping secrets from Gerald- or anyone else for that matter, and it was starting to feel like a weight on my shoulders. Ignoring it just made me feel even worse. By the time the bus stop had come into view, I was feeling... downcast. I knew that I would have to do my best to get rid of the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach as soon as possible. I had to give Grandpa and Grandma a smile before I went to bed... and I had to at least try to keep smiling at school tomorrow. I had other things to worry about, anyway.

I sat down on the bus stop bench, and sighed. I had never liked feeling angst. I was so lucky in life, after all. I had wonderful Grandparents, friends, and I lived in a great city. Feeling angst was like being ungrateful for all of the things that I was truly blessed with having. But there were some night when I couldn't help feeling sorry for myself. Usually, I would start to feel a little better after a night like that. But recently-

"BANG!"

I jumped, as a familiar voice rang through the air.

"I'm okay..."

I blinked. "Eugene?" I called out. I squinted into the darkness beyond the eery orange glow of the street light, to see the shape of Eugene limping towards me, slowly. "Arnold?" he asked, as he stepped into the light. He was covered in cuts a bruises, and leaning against an even more battered looking bike.

"What happened?" I asked.

Eugene gave me a sheepish grin. "Oh... I was just... night riding again, and... had a small mis-hap..."

I smiled. "Well, let me help you get back home." I offered. Eugene looked as if he was about to cry. "Oh, thank you Arnold- the truth is... I'm completely lost. I- I don't know where I am..." he whimpered.

I stood up. "That's alright, I think I remember how to get to your house." I said. Eugene smiled, "Really, Arnold!? Your a lifesaver!" he exclaimed. I felt myself flinch at that, but I quickly shook it off. "Come on, let's go. It's not too far from here."

We had been walking in relative silence for almost ten minutes, when Eugene suddenly stopped. "Hey... Arnold?" he asked, quietly. "What is it, Eugene?" I asked. Eugene pointed at something by the side of the road. "What is that?" he asked. I squinted, but I couldn't see anything in the darkness. He slowly made his way over to the side of the road, and picked something up. Then, he walked it over to a nearby street light.

In Eugene's hands, he held a small potted flower. The bud sprouting just out of the soil was bright purple, and covered in small white dots. Eugene looked amazed. "Wow... I've never seen a flower like that... have you, Arnold?" he asked.

I shook my head.

Eugene clutched it close to his chest. "Do you think it'd be alright if I kept this?" he asked. I frowned. "Well... it's probably better if you take care of it rather than leave alone in the gutter like that." I said.

Eugene grinned. "Cool! I'll call her-... what should we call her?" he asked with a spark of excitement in his eyes. Before I so much as opened my mouth, he jumped. "I know! I'll call you... Snow. How's that, buddy?" he asked the flower. I smiled weakly. "Hey Eugene, I think that's your house over there."

"Thanks Arnold! I'll see you at school tomorrow!" he yelled.

I smiled, and nodded. As I made my way home, my thoughts began to drift back to Helga. By the time I made it home, I had replayed everything in my mind a dozen times over. That night, I went to bed feeling more tired than ever before.

* * *

I opened the door, to greet the new morning and allowed a parade of animals to rush past me to get out. I looked around for a little while, and finally settles on a seat in the middle of the bus, next to Gerald. As people pushed pass, Lila eventually made her way over to us, and next to us. It wasn't unusual for three people to be forced to squeeze into one seat on the bus- so no one really took notice of it. After all, Lila had a habit of talking to everybody- no matter what their social status may be. I was glad. Isaac had warned me that there might be repercussions if anybody else found out about... whatever it was that was going on.

I doubted that anybody would think twice about it if they heard us anyway. It sounded too much like something out of a science fiction movie. Lila's eyes were filled with excitement, as she continued to pull book after book out of her bag. "I borrowed these books from the Hillwood Library- I thought that they might help us understand the implications of the dimensional connection that Mister Isaac explained." said Lila. Gerald and I shared a look. "Um, Lila- All he said was some cryptic thing about our world being tied with darkness... I don't think there are any, er- implications..." I said, slightly bewildered by the stack of books that Lila had piled on her lap.

Lila shook her head. "Oh no, Arnold. If what Mister Isaac said is true, then that implies that their are an infinite amount of 'worlds' out there that are also connected, or disconnected by the 'darkness'. It also suggests that this darkness stuff must be able to adapt really quickly to whatever might be considered the laws of physics in that world. Isn't that cool?" she asked.

Gerald shrugged. "I guess- but how does that explain the thing with Arnold?" he asked. Lila beamed. "Mister Isaac said that all of the strange things that have happened, and will happen- are all connected to Arnold, and this darkness. Maybe Arnold is something like a Dimension Lord from my ever-so favourite television show." she said.

"What show is that, Lila?" I asked.

"Oh, it's an old british science fiction show, called 'Professor What'. And it is ever-so good..." she said, dreamily. "I know that! I used to watch it with my dad! That's still on?" asked Gerald.

As Lila and Gerald began to deconstruct the inner workings of science fiction, I took one of Lilas books, and began to flip through it. I was surprised to find that it was a book I had already read. 'The Universe and You' by L Smith. I tried to remember when I had read it, but I couldn't find it. It felt like it was a while ago...

"Hey, Arnold?"

"Arnold!"

I woke with a jolt, and find myself facing Gerald and Lila. "We're here, man." said Gerald. I nodded wearily, and stood myself up. "Sorry..." I mumbled. Gerald and Lila stared at me for a moment, and then shuffled their way off the bus. I followed them from a few steps behind, stumbling when a certain somebody stuck out their leg to trip me over. I ignored Helga's customary insult, and made my way to the classroom.

I hadn't been talking to Helga much lately. A few months ago she had started to bug me more and more- and it was to the point that I just didn't want to be around her anymore. She hated me and I...

I stopped in front of the classroom door and frowned. I didn't like hating things. Especially people. Helga was a good person deep down- I know that. But sometimes she made it difficult. Well, usually. I entered the classroom trying to forget about her, when I noticed something... normal.

Mr Simmons was sitting behind his desk, taking attendance. Not Isaac in his Mr Simmons 'costume', but the real Mr Simmons. I stared for a moment, and sat down at my desk. Gerald and Lila looked equally confused. Before I could say anything, Mr Simmons stood up and scrawled 'Show and Tell' on the blackboard. I could hear everybody in the room let out a low sigh.

"Okay, everybody! Do you have your show and tell presentations ready?" asked Mr Simmons. The class collectively shook their heads. "Oh come on now, children. I'm sure I asked you to have something ready yesterday." he said. "Nuh-uh, Mr Simmons. You just made us do Math yesterday..." Harold whined.

Mr Simmons frowned. "Really..." he mumbled. "Well anyway- does anybody have anything that they would like to present?" he asked. The room was completely silent. "Anybody?"

All of a sudden, there was a loud 'Bang!' on the door. Mr Simmons jumped, and quickly opened the door- to find Eugene sprawled across the floor. "I'm okay..." he groaned. Mr Simmons took a step back, as Eugene walked in carrying the biggest potted plant I had ever seen, in his arms. The stalk was about as tall as he was, with a giant white bulb hanging on the end. Everybody gasped in wonder.

Eugene placed the plant on Mr Simmons desk, and faced the class. "Am I too late for Show and Tell, Mister Simmons?" he asked. "Not at all, Eugene. Be my guest." said Mr Simmons.

Eugene cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you- the eighth wonder of the world! Snow!" he announced. As soon as he said the name of the plant, the bulb began to expand and open, revealing a pattern of every color I could think of- and in the middle, what looked like a little grey mouth.

"Isn't it cool!? It responds to its name! Watch this," said Eugene, "Snow, bow!'

The flower immediately bent down, as if it were greeting royalty. "Snow, dance!" said Eugene. The flower immediately began to wobble around in spot, the leaves on its stalk whirling around as if to accompany the movement. Everybody instanly began to applaud.

"Wow, Eugene! That is the most... unique flower that I have ever seen!" exclaimed Mr Simmons. "Where is it from?"

Eugene shrugged. "I dunno, I just found it on the sidewalk! Isn't it cool!?"

"I dunno- it's just a stupid flower..." snarled Harold. "Gee, I dunno Harold. I've never seen a flower dance before- I think that's powerful cool." said Stinky. Harold huffed. "Oh please- I can dance much better than that stupid thing!"

Mr Simmons interrupted before a 'dance off' could be initiated.

"Well its a very interesting find, Eugene. Is there any body else?" he asked. The classroom was silent. Mr Simmons let out a low sigh. "Okay... Well there's still twenty minutes until show and tell time is over... Eugene? Why don't you tell us some more about 'Snow'?" he asked.

Eugene grinned. "With pleasure!"

* * *

After watching the class play charades with a plant for twenty minutes, and math for the rest, I was more than ready for recess. As I walked toward the cafeteria with Gerald and Lila in tow, I could feel more than few stares. People always seemed to notice when there was something going on outside of the social order. And Lila, being one of the most popular girls in school, hanging out with Gerald and I, who were _not_ the most popular kids in school, was definitely out of the social order.

If it were anyone other than Lila with us, it would've attracted much more attention. If it were somebody like Ruth, for example. But Lila was the type of person who could be friends with anybody. From Big Gino, to Chocolate Boy.

"So Arnold, what did you do last night?" asked Lila, as he lined up to get our lunch. I shrugged. "Oh, I watched a movie with some friends..." I stopped to retrieve my beloved tapioca pudding, and continued. "Nothing too exciting."

We took our seats at a table on the far end of the cafeteria. "Yeah. Hey, Arnold? Did you sleep through that whole movie?" asked Gerald. I nodded. "Really? I thought I heard you arguing with Helga..." he trailed off when he saw the look of surprise on Lila's face. "You went with Helga?" she asked, her voice filled to the brim with childish excitement. Gerald hushed her. "I went with Pheobe, and I brought Arnold along. She brought Helga... But you've gotta keep it a secret, Lila. Helga'll kill us if it gets out." Gerald explained.

Lila grinned. "Well, that's nice to hear, anyway." she said.

I wasn't paying enough attention to ask Lila why she was so interested. "Guys? Look over there..." I muttered, pointing to the other side of the cafeteria.

There was a crowd forming around Eugene's usual seat, where 'Snow' had tripled in size. It's vines were digging into the wall, and the bulb, now the size of a cafeteria table, was hanging from the ceiling. Eugene looked sickly and pale. Gerald, Lila and I made our way over to the crowd. "People! There's nothing to worry about! Snow's just having a little growth spurt is all!" said Eugene.

"A little? That things more bloated than Howard after a chilli cook off!" Stinky exclaimed.

"Hey!"

It didn't take long for Principal Wartz to enter the fray, ushering the students our of the cafeteria. "Alright, clumsy kid! That's the last straw! Bringing fast growing plant life to school is against the rules!" he bellowed. "But, Principal Wartz!" Eugene started, only to be quickly interrupted. "No buts! You have until the end of the day to get this this out of here! Everyone else, go eat outside!"

With a collective groan, the entire student body filed out. In the swarm of people, I managed to get separated from Gerald and Lila. Clutching my tapioca pudding, I made my way over to Eugene.

"Do you want some help, Eugene?" I asked. Eugene smiled weakly. "No thanks, Arnold. Me and Snow need to be alone for a moment."

"Okay..."

* * *

The door to the classroom burst open just a little while before the final bell. Eugene stepped inside, looking even more pale. "Are you okay, Eugene?" asked Mr Simmons. "Oh, I just got a little food poisoning at lunch..." he groaned.

"Well, you can go lay down in the nurses office if you'd like, Eugene." said Mr Simmons. Eugene nodded, and slinked away. "Now as you know, career week is coming soon..." said Mr Simmons, pausing to allow for the class's collective groan. "I would like each of you to fill out this form very carefully, and then next week, depending on your results, you will be paired with a professional of your particular field."

Curly put his hand up. "Overlord is not considered a potential career." said Mr Simmons. Curly put his hand down with a short huff.

After Mr Simmons had given one to every student, he sat back at his desk and started grading a small pile of tests. As everybody began to tick and scribble, I looked down at the piece of paper.

_'What are you most passionate about?'_

I thought for a moment.

**'Helping others.'**

_'What is your skill-set?'_

**'Problem Solving'**

_'What is your parent(s) and/or guardian(s) job title?'_

**'Boarding House Owners'**

_'Are you okay?'_

I blinked. And re-read the question.

_'Arnold, are you okay?'_

I glanced around. Everybody else was writing. I looked back down, and frowned. Slowly, I moved my pencil to the paper.

**'I'm Fine.'**

_'Are you sure?'_

I grit my teeth. But again, I responded.

**'Yes, I'm sure.'**

_'Arnold... you don't need to wear a mask.'_

I jumped, as the final bell rang throughout the school. Everybody began to shuffle over to Mr Simmons' desk, and place their paper in a pile in front of him. I scanned my paper again, but it was back to normal. In what felt like a single fluid motion, I finished it, put it on Mr Simmons' desk and ran out the door.

Gerald and Lila caught up to me at the entrance to the school, and we made our way to Slausens. "Hey, Arnold? You okay? You seem a little... jumpy." asked Gerald. I flinched. "I'm fine." Gerald stared for a moment, and then shrugged. "Er- Lila, I don't wanna be rude or anythin', but is there a reason your following us?" he asked. I elbowed him. _"Gerald..."_ I muttered.

Gerald shrugged, and turned his attention to Lila.

"Oh- well, ever since what happened a few days ago... I just felt like it would be safer to be around you guys... Besides, it is ever-so exciting!" she exclaimed.

Gerald looked like he was trying to decide whether frown, or grin. He decided on the latter. "Why don't you tell me more about that 'Professor What' show of yours?" he asked. Lila brightened. "Oh, yesterdays episode was ever-so wonderful! There was a scientist, a sea creature and an alien. The Professor had to investigate the connection between the three of them, only to discover-"

The three of us sat at a booth, discussing science fiction for the better part of an hour. I paid for Lila's milkshake, despite her objection, and the three of us where having more fun than I had all month. Before we knew it, the sun had began to set. "We'd better get going... I'll see you guys later!" I said. I opened the door to leave, and stopped. Everywhere, as far as I could see- the streets were packed with people. All of them walking slowly in the same direction.

The only noise they made came from the sound of their shoes rubbing against the pavement- which seemed to echo on, forever. One of them looked familiar. "Grandpa?" I called out. All of a sudden, the entire crowd stopped and turned to face me. My heart skipped a beat.

"Get... get..." They groaned.

I closed the door, and turned to face Gerald and Lila.

"Somethings wrong."

All of a sudden, the glass window at the front of the store exploded, send small shards of glass flying in all directions. People began to crawl through the window.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Apparently, I had made the understatement of the year.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

**(AN:** **Okay, Here's the part where the author apologises. This hasn't been updated in what feels like forever. Truthfully, I was thinking about rebooting it- but I decided to sit down and do this instead. Also- I do realise that this story seems very rushed. I'm trying to come up with a way to let it breath by having the characters just talk to each other but... its' a little difficult for me. Also, I don't know if I've said this before- but each chapter begins with a flashback to Arnold and Helga's preschool experiences. The next one... well, you'll see. Anyway- this story will be wrapping up in another four or five chapters, so please keep reading!**

**Read and Review! (again, not above begging.)**


	6. Chapter 6

_Helga was feeling nervous. Arnold was sitting next to her on the bus, staring out the window. THE Arnold. Her Arnold. Her heart fluttered. It took everything she had to keep herself from doing something stupid. He was right there... She could probably peck him on the cheek at that moment without anybody noticing..._

_She shook her head._

_'Concentrate!' she told herself. Sitting up, and acting as cool as she possibly could- she tapped Arnold on the shoulder. "Well, well... what are you doing here, football-..." she cut herself off. 'Come on! Shape up!' she berated herself. If she played her cards right... maybe, she'd be able to complete her mission. But she had to keep the insults to a minimum._

_It was difficult though. Whenever he was being insulted, or bullied- Arnold's first response was always to ignore it. And if there was one thing that Helga hated more than her older sister- it was being ignored._

_When a full minute passed by without Arnold taking any notice of her, Helga began to feel the urge to give him a wedgie._

_You know... just a little one._

_She folded her arms and grumbled. This was probably going to be the only time that she could be sort of 'alone' with him... and she was wasting it. She bit her lip, and pulled the envelope out of her pocket. 'You are humbly invited to Helga G Pataki's birthday party.' was scrawled across the front. Helga could feel her heart beginning to beat faster and faster._

_This was it._

_The moment of truth._

_She cleared her throat._

_"Hey, Arnold-" her voice was cut off but the sound of the bus' brakes squealing. "Alright- off you go..." yelled the bus driver over the sound of talkative second graders. Helga bit her lip._

_"No..." she mumbled to herself. She didn't want this to happen again... she remembered her last birthday party. All alone, in her empty room. Crying herself to sleep._

_She didn't want to be alone again... tears began to well up in her eyes. This was it... this..._

_"Helga?"_

_Helga looked up. Arnold was standing, looking lost in thought. "Could you excuse me?" he asked. Helga lifted her legs up, giving Arnold room to squeeze through from the window seat. Once he had, he joined the crowd in leaving the bus. Helga covered her face with her hands. Nobody noticed her crying._

_As always... she was invisible._

_Helga got off of the bus, wiping her eyes. She walked to the classroom, looking furious. In this state, there was only one person in the entire school that would be brave enough to approach her. Phoebe walked up to her, with a sympathetic smile. "Morning, Helga!" she greeted. Helga muttered something in response that Phoebe couldn't quite hear._

_"So... I understand it's your birthday tomorrow?" she asked. Helga shrugged. "Yeah... who told you that?" asked Helga. Phoebe smiled. "Oh, Arnold happened to mention it when he passed by earlier." she explained._

_All of Helga's features seemed to perk up instantly at the sound of his name. "R-really?" she stuttered. "How did ol' football head know about that?" she asked. Pheobe smiled. "Oh, I don't know, Helga."_

_Helga was still lost in thought when she turned a corner and crashed into Arnold. "Ow! Watch it!" she yelled. Arnold was helping her up, when she suddenly became very aware of his hand... on hers. She pulled her hand back, and scowled to hide her blushing. "Hey- take this!" she ordered, pushing her envelope onto his chest. "Oh..." muttered Arnold. He took the envelope, and read what was written on the front of it. "Thank you, Helga." he said with a sincere smile._

_Helga could feel herself melt. "Whatever... just... Move it, football head!" she yelled. Arnold took a step to the side, and let her pass. Arnold smiled to himself. When Helga was out of view, he opened the envelope and read the letter._

_'You are cordially invited to my- I mean, the birthday party of Helga G Pataki. Come to Slausens at lunch time tomorrow... Oh! And bring lotsa presents!_

_- Signed Helga G.P.'_

_Arnolds smile began to fade. Arnie's birthday was tomorrow. And it was all the way in the countryside._

_He wasn't going to make it._

_Arnold sighed. 'Oh well...' he thought to himself. 'It probably won't matter if I'm not there...' _

_Everybody in the classroom made it to Helga's birthday party. Except... the one who mattered most. She didn't cry. And it was not the worst party she had ever had... but... it was still... hollow._

_Arnold meanwhile, was forced into the middle of a centuries old feud between his grandparents, and Arnies grandparents. One that ended with a town-wide cream pie fight. In the middle of washing off what felt like a thousand layers of cream, Arnold made a promise to himself- and to Arnie. He was never going to miss Helga's birthday party ever again. _

_Because there was no way it could be any worse than what he had just experienced._

_Unless Arnie went too._

_Arnold shuddered at the thought._

* * *

"BANG!"

Gerald, Lila and I pushed against the door as hard as we could. We could hear the people banging against it from the other side, moaning about something. There were at least a hundred of them. All pushing against the door. Trying, as they put it, to 'get'. At least some of them were. The others had resorted to growling and hissing.

Seconds ticked by, feeling like hours. Slowly- the banging began to stop. After a few painful minutes, everything was quiet. I took my hands off of the door, and balled them together. It was pitch black, but I had the sneaking suspicion that we were in the giant freezer. Which would explain all of the ice. I couldn't see Gerald or Lila, but I could hear their teeth chattering on either side of me.

I felt around the door way, and finally found a light switch. The light flickered on, revealing a series of giant shelves stacked with frozen wieners, frozen hamburger patties- frozen everything. As well as the most ice-cream I had ever seen in one spot in my entire life.

I turned to face Gerald and Lila. There were hugging themselves, and shivering. "W-what'ss... g-going on...?" asked Gerald. The cold was making it hard to speak, but I tried it anyway. "I-I d-don't kn-kn-know..." I muttered. "A-re th-th-they... zombies?" asked Lila. I looked over at her.

She was shaking much worse than either of us- and I guessed that it probably didn't help that she wasn't wearing anything with sleeves. Almost by instinct, I unbuttoned my top shirt and pulled it off. With one shaky hand, I handed it to her. "N-no, A-a-Arnold... I'm sure I will be f-f-fine... It's not th-that c-c-cold..." she stuttered. "Lila..." I started, on to be interrupted by Gerald. "I'll take it!" he exclaimed.

I glanced at Gerald, and then back at Lila. Then, I sighed. Grabbing the shirt from either side, I pulled as hard as I could- until finally there was a big 'RIIIIP!' "Hey- What're y-you doin', man?" asked Gerald. I quickly gave him one half of the shirt. "Use it as a scarf." I said, as I passed the other half to Lila. This time, she took it without a word. She looked more than a little surprised.

We stayed silent by the door, until we were absolutely sure that they were gone. "G-guys?" said Gerald. I looked up to meet his worried face. "There's n-no door handle on this th-thing..."

My heart sank.

"It m-must be one of th-those things that only opens... fr-from the outside..." said Gerald. We went silent. 'Are we going... to die here?' I asked myself. A quick glance at Gerald and Lila's faces confirmed that they were thinking the very same thing. "W-we shouldn't lose hope..." said Lila as she slowly stood herself up and tied half of my shirt around her neck. "L-let's just th-think about something else wh-while we wait for somebody to r-r-rescue us..." she suggested.

I smiled. "Yeah, o-okay..."

The room went silent again. But after a few minutes, Gerald spoke up. "H-hey... Arnold? Do you know th-that Isaac guy, from s-somewhere?" he asked. Lila sat up, her interest apparently perked.

"...Yes." I said.

Gerald's eyes widened. "What!? You do? From where?" he asked. I thought for a second. "I don't... really know. He just feels... f-f-familiar..." I explained. "Do you think maybe y-you did meet him somewhere, and you just... f-forgot?" asked Lila. I shook my head. "No... I mean... it's like I remember... but I also don't..." I frowned. It felt like the memories were somewhere in my brain- and I just couldn't find them. But then, there was always the chance that I was just imagining it...

"I think I remember... being lost. And I got hurt... and then Isaac helped me get back home." I said.

Gerald leaned forward. "Isaac didn't mention that when he told us about the reality glitch stuff..." he trailed off." What did he tell you, anyway?" I asked. "That... something was making reality twist and deteriorate... And then he said that you were our only hope..." said Gerald.

I frowned. "That can't be right..."

"What do you mean, Arnold?" asked Lila.

"I'm not... a saviour."

"A-arnold... I think you could do it..." said Lila. I decided to change the subject. "Are you and Phoebe now boyfriend and girlfriend, Gerald?" I asked. Gerald flinched. "Oh, I didn't know that the two of you were dating each other, Gerald!" said Lila, beaming- and also apparently oblivious to Gerald uncomfortable body language.

Gerald sighed. "Actually... no. She broke it off last night." he said. My eyes widened. "What?" I exclaimed. Gerald shrugged. "She said that she needed to focus on studying... and she said that we were too young to be dating anyway..." he said. "But, you know- there are plenty of fish in the sea!"

Gerald's voice was strained. I stared at him for a moment, and then put my hands over my eyes. How could I have not seen that he was so sad? Gerald had always been good at hiding things, but I could usually tell. Was I so absorbed in myself that I didn't even my best friend's suffering?

I grit my teeth.

"When we get out of here... you should talk to her again. You like each other... there is no reason you two can't hang out." I said. Gerald smiled, weakly. "That's the thing, Arnold. I don't know if she does... I mean, yeah she's nice to me and all but..." he trailed off. "Anyway- I don't want to think about it... can we talk about something else?"

It was silent again. Lila began to fiddle with her hair, eventually pulling out a hand-full of bobby-pins and a few elastic bands. Her hair- while slightly frazzled, fell down over her face. She combed her hair back with her hands, and let out a low sigh. After a few awkward minutes, she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, and started folding it in her lap. After a while it began to take shape.

A paper fortune teller. I had seen them before- but only in cheesy movies about slumber parties. Lila pulled out a pen and scribbled a few numbers and words on it, and inside of it.

"Pick a number." she said, tapping Gerald on the shoulder. Gerald raised an eyebrow. "Pick a number" she repeated, somewhat authoritatively. Gerald sighed.

"Three."

Lila nodded and opened the fortune teller horizontally and vertically a total of three times. "Pick another number." she ordered.

"Six."

"One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six..." Lila muttered. Finally she stopped moving it, and opened one of the folds. She smiled. "Your destiny is a happy one." she read aloud. Gerald rolled his eyes. "I'll bet it says that under every fold." he said. Lila shook her head. "Nope. In fact- if you had chosen four, instead of six-" she paused as she opened another fold. "You are haunted by a perpetual darkness." she read aloud.

Had Gerald been drinking something at that moment, I'm almost certain he would have done a spit take. "Why would that be one of the possibilities?" he asked. Lila shrugged. "It's always a possibility."

Gerald raised an eyebrow again. "Give me that-" he said, gesturing with his hands. Lila handed it to him, and began to explain how to use it- only for Gerald to interrupt her. "I know how to work these things." he said. This time, Lila raised an eyebrow. "How?" she asked. "I have a little sister..." he muttered.

"Hey, Arnold!"

I blinked. "Yes?" I asked.

"Pick a number."

I thought for a moment.

"Eight."

Gerald moved the paper fortune teller around like an expert. I smiled. 'I wonder just how many times he's been forced to do this with Timberly...' I thought.

"Another number, Arnold" said Gerald.

"Ten."

Gerald shuffled the paper fortune teller once again, and opened one of the folds. He stared at it for a moment, and glanced at Lila. Lila leaned over to read what it said, and smiled. "What does it day, Gerald?" I asked.

"It says- BBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTT!" we all jumped, as Gerald was interrupted by a deafening noise. It sounded like a chainsaw or something. I glanced over at the metal freezer door. I could see a small circular saw coming out from the other side, and moving along the door frame. The three of us scurried to the end of the freezer, with our hands on our ears.

The door fell with a resounding 'BANG' revealing the form of a person, dressed entirely in black- and wearing a big, bulky welder's mask. "Come with me if you want to live." the figure commanded in a loud rasp. "Who are you!?" I yelled. The figure pulled off the welders mask to reveal-

"Grandma!?"

"Howdy, Sherriff!" she greeted us, with a friendly smile- throwing the welders mask behind her. "We'd better get out of here. There attracted to noise." she said. As if on cue, we could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. The four of us ran out the back door of Slausens Ice Cream parlour, and climbed the fire escape to the roof of the building next door. "Come on, Sherriff! Mosey on!" she yelled as we ran across the roof top.

"Couldn't you have just opened the door from your side!?" yelled Gerald.

"No time!"

Gerald rolled his eyes. As we got to the edge of the building, Grandma leapt over the edge- landing perfectly on her feet at the next building. "Hurry!" she called. With a collective gulp- the three of us ran as close to the edge as possible and jumped. We made it to the other side, but only just. We also managed to land on top of each other.

"Come along, Sherriff! We're almost there!" Grandma called out. After we managed to get back on our feet, I looked around. Grandma had disappeared.

"Over here!" she called.

I looked over to where I had heard her voice. She was on another building- all the way across the street. I blinked. "How..." I muttered. Gerald tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed at the edge of the roof. Sticking out of the concrete, was a long black wire that stretched from the top of the building we were standing on- over the street, and connected to the building Grandma was standing on. The line seemed to travel down to a fire escape about three quarters up the side of the building. There was no ladder down, only one up to the roof.

The three of us glanced at one another. "Well... it's the only way..." I said. Gerald and Lila nodded, silently. "Give me my shirt back, guys." I said. They stared at me for a moment, and then something clicked in their minds. Slowly, they unravelled their shirt/scarfs from around their necks. "I'll owe you a shirt." said Lila. I smiled.

Taking my time, I wrapped the shirt around each of my hands and glanced at Gerald and Lila. "We'll go together... okay?" I asked. They nodded sheepishly. I got down on my hands and knees, and grabbed down on the line. "Alright guys grab my... er, body..." I mumbled. Gerald and Lila wrapped their arms around me. I ignored the awkward feeling. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah."

With that, I slid off of the edge, holding the line. Immediately, I felt my shoulders scream in pain- but there wasn't enough time to register that. Gripping the line as tightly as I could, we slid along, across the street and landed with a small *bang* in the fire escape.

I winced.

Even with the shirt, I had still managed to give my hands pretty severe rope burn. I blew on it, doing my best to also ignore my shoulders, which seemed to be threatening to explode. Gerald and Lila scurried up the ladder, and I followed suit- although significantly slower.

When I reached the top, I couldn't help but smile.

It was Pigeon Mans old home. The fences, the playground equipment and the birdseed- it was all still there.

"Welcome to the survivors camp, sheriff!" Grandma announced.

Slowly, a small group of people began to emerge from the shadows. They were all dishevelled and dirty- one of whom I recognized immediately. "Curly?" I muttered. Curly grinned. He was covered in dirt, and dressed completely in camouflage. Complete with what looked like a military helmet straight out of an old Vietnam movie. There was something scrawled on it that I couldn't quite make out- and a picture of Rhonda taped to the side.

"Good evening, dear Arnold! It is good to see that you too, have survived this apocalyptic wasteland to find yourself atop Gammelthorp Tower!" he said, gesturing to the other survivors. "Introduce yourselves!" he ordered. Big Bob Pataki stepped out of the shadows with his arms crossed. "Quite down, kid. We need to get the weapons ready so we can escape this hell hole. Helga!" he called out. I heard a familiar voice call back from somewhere on the other side of the tower.

"What, Bob!?"

"How's that Chainsaw Missile going along?" he asked.

"What do you think, Bob!? You only gave me a hammer and a golf ball!"

"Well, keep working on it, Olga!"

"It's Helga!"

"Whatever." said Bob. "We'll should be ready for an assault by morning." Curly bristled. "You don't give the orders here, Pataki!" he yelled. Big Bob took a step forward. "Oh yeah, then whose supposed to take charge around here, you!?" he bellowed. "That's right! I've been preparing for this since I was born! You don't know the first thing about the practical use of a chainsaw against a city of undead!"

As Curly and Big Bob continues to argue, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Grandma, holding a packet of 'XL Marshmallows'. She gestured for us to join us over by a barrel fire in the centre of the camp. We surrounded the fire, glad to finally feel the glow of warmth on our hands. Grandma handed us each a thick piece of wire, and then stuck a marshmallow on the end of her own, and put it over the fire. Eventually, the three of us each did the same.

We sat in silence, enjoying the warmth of the fire. I could see Gerald doing his best not to think about his family. As soon as he began to think about it, he would bring up something to talk about. Lila was all too happy to play along. Grandma joined in after a little while- but I kept quiet.

I was about to take a bite out of my third marshmallow, when Helga popped up out of the shadows. "Oh, hello there- Football head." she greeted me, with her nose- literally- in the air. I was going to ignore her- until she yanked my marshmallow wire out of my hands. She took a bite out of the marshmallow on the end on the wire, and winced. It was probably as hot as eating fire. I stood up. Every part of me wanted to yank the wire back- but I didn't. Instead, I just walked away.

I could hear Lila say something as I left, but I couldn't quite make it out. I walked to the edge of the roof, and looked over the city.

The streetlights were on- and I could see people shuffling about on the road. As I watched them, I noticed a small piece of paper floating around, just riding the wind. I stared at it for a while. Then, it caught a big gust of wind- and the paper flew almost directly upwards. All of a sudden, it was as high up as I was. Leaning over the edge, with my hand outstretched- I managed to catch it before it fell back down to the ground below.

I walked over to the camp fire to give it a closer look. As soon as I could make out the words on it- I rushed over to Lila. "Can I borrow your pen?" I asked. Lila looked confused. "Um, of course..." she said. She pulled the pen out of her shirt pocket and handed it to me. I sat down by the fire, and read through the paper.

'Career Week Questionnaire - Signed, Arnold'

I took a deep breath and looked over the sheet. Eventually, I found the _'Are you okay?'_ question. I carefully crossed out my first answer and wrote **'There's trouble.'** I held my breath. All of a sudden, the next question faded away- replaced by a new one. I let out a loud sigh of relief.

_'What is it?'_

**'Everybody in town is... I think they've turned into Zombies... I don't know what to do. My Grandpa is missing...'**

_'I see...'_

"What are you doing, Arnold?" asked Lila. "This... I think this piece of paper is... connected to somebody..." I muttered. Another sentence began to appear on the paper. I could hear Lila quietly gasp.

_'I wasn't aware that another test had been put into action... I am currently on a mission- so I am unable to assist you in person. Are Lila and Gerald there?'_

I opened my mouth to call over Gerald, but Lila was faster. "Gerald! Come here!" she yelled. Gerald looked up from his place by the fire, and walked over. "What is it?" he asked. Lila explained what was going on, and Gerald fell silent.

**'They're here.'**

_'Good. I am sorry, you two. I wish that I had not gotten the two of you involved in this. It was felt that Arnold would do better with his friends beside him- and I agreed. However, you two are only civilians in this. If you want to forget any of this ever happened... tell me now.'_

We went silent. "I wanna always be there to help you, man. I know you'd do the same." said Gerald. "I feel the same. I'm not going to abandon you, Arnold." said Lila. I smiled. "Thank you..." I mumbled.

**'They'll stay.'**

_'That is good news. Now- I've tracked the source of the anomaly that seems to be the root cause of the event. It is located in the school playground... and it is gathering power. You need to hurry.'_

**'Thank you.'**

_'You're welcome.'_

I folded the paper, and put it in my pocket. "Guys?" I asked. They both nodded. With that settled the three of us walked over to the loudest section of the roof- where Big Bob and Curly were still arguing. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a flash of pink. "Helga..." I muttered. I felt an all too familiar weight in my chest. Gerald saw me wince, and- as he had a habit of doing- read my mind.

"Did she apologise to you yet?" he whispered to me. I shook my head. "Well..." he trailed off. If Big Bob and Curly were not still arguing, I'm sure that we would have fallen into an awkward silence.

"Are you kidding? DC is full of people! We should go to the country- somewhere out in the open, where we can see 'em coming!" yelled Curly. "Kid, you don't know the first thing about the Apocalypse. You're supposed to go to the place that has the most security- and where the army will be the most focused! That is DC!" yelled Big Bob.

Curly snorted. "Arnold! Tell this oaf what happened when the survivors went to the capital in 'Dusk of the Not-Living 7'! They go to DC and all of the soldiers are infected, and they have to fight Zombie Reagan! You remember that, right?" asked Curly. I blinked. Just as they were about to continue arguing, Gerald blew a long, loud wolf-whistle.

"Alright, listen up! Arnold, Lila and I saw something weird over at the school- and we're going to go check it out! Now which one of you knows the easiest route from here, to the school?" he asked.

"I do!" Curly and Big Bob answered in unison. They turned to face each other again, and growled. Gerald rolled his eyes. "Will you two quit it already!? Just tell us how to get to the school!" he yelled.

"The Sewers." said Big Bob.

"Helicopter." said Curly.

Big Bob gave a low snort. "How on earth are they supposed to find a helicopter and then, find somebody to operate the darn thing?" he yelled. "Easy! I think that chin guy left one on the old FTi building!" yelled Curly. "So you want them to travel a few miles to get to an abandoned company to find a helicopter that probably isn't even there!?" he yelled.

Gerald turned to face us.

"Yeah... something tells me that they're not going to be any help." he said in an exasperated tone. "Yes... perhaps it would be best if we travelled through the sewers..." said Lila. Gerald and I stared at her. "I think it is the safest option- gross, buts safe..." she trailed off.

I sighed. "She's right."

"What!? Aw, come on, man! Do you know how many times we've already had to go down into the sewers now?" asked Gerald. I thought for a second. "Five times?" I asked. Gerald shook his head. "Seven! And that's seven more times than I wanted too! I'm twelve years old, man! I don't wanna..." he trailed off into a grumble. I shrugged. "It doesn't look like we have much choice, Gerald." I said.

Gerald sighed. "Yeah, yeah- I get it, man. I just don't like it." he grumbled.

With that settled, we walked over to Grandma, to ask her for help getting to the closest man-hole cover. Grandma smiled, and gave us the best plan she could think of.

I took a deep breath, and looked at Gerald and Lila's equally astonished face. 'Boy... I hope this works...' I thought to myself.

* * *

The three of us shuffled across the street, taking care to move as slowly as possible. It was dark- and the dull glow of the streetlights provided little to no actual lighting. As we moved, there was every possibility that we would be grabbed by something from the shadows. Luckily- we had back up.

"Keep moving sheriff... your clear." Grandma's voice rand through the ear receiver she had given to me about an hour ago. I did my best to look natural. By which I mean, shuffling, moaning, and everything else that zombies were supposed to do. Gerald was walking ahead of me, looking slightly flustered. Lila was beside me, but I couldn't quite see her properly. I guessed that she was about as scared as we were. I berated myself for not being able to come up with a better plan than this.

The three of us were walking down the streets of Hillwood, covered in a collection of all the grime they could find in the camp. Our clothes were a little ripped to add another layer of authenticity.

I could see the man hole cover now- it was illuminated by a flickering streetlight. "Why do streetlights only flicker when something scary is about to happen?" Gerald mumbled to himself. I shrugged. We stopped at the light, and waited for Grandma to give the all-clear.

"Grandma?" I whispered into the receiver. "Are you there?"

"Calm down, football head." came the voice from the other end. I resisted the urge to groan. "Helga? What're you doing there?" I asked. "Your kooky grandma said she had some kinda 'business' to take care of and handed me these goggles and the receiver... I'm supposed to 'cover' you, I guess." said Helga.

"Great..." I mumbled.

"What? You got a problem with that, football head? I can just throw this stuff away if you want me too!" she yelled. I winced. "Alright, Helga. I'm sorry. Now- can you see us?" I asked. Helga was rustling around with something on the other end of the line. "Sure... lemme just figure out how these night-vision goggles work... okay! Got it! ... Whoa... You look weird in night-vision, football head." she said, sounding genuinely surprised. "Yeah, your all clear. Go ahead."

I gave a nod to Gerald and Lila- and together, we tried to pry the man-hole cover off. Gerald pushed his fingers into the little hole in the manhole cover, and heaved. "Man- it's really stuck!" he said. I grabbed the back of Gerald's shirt, and Lila grabbed the back of mine. Together, we pulled with all our might- until it finally came off with a resounding 'pop'.

We looked into the pitch black below. And then, we glanced at each other.

This was it.

I took a deep breath. "Helga... If I'm not back... tell grandma that I love her." I said. "Wait- Not coming back!? Arno-" I took the receiver out of my ear, and turned it off. Gerald took out the flashlight he had stuffed in his pocket. "You wanna take the lead?" he asked. I grinned wearily. "Sure." I said.

I glanced at the handle of the torch. In the flickering light of the streetlight I could make out something inscribed on it. 'Property of Helga G. Pataki'. I looked at Gerald. "What? Your Grandma gave it to me." he said. I let out a low sigh.

Holding the torch carefully in my hands, I made my way down the ladder and into the dark abyss. Gerald and Lila followed, quickly. As soon as we were more than a few steps in, we felt the desperate need to clench our hands over our noses. "Awwwww..." I groaned. Gerald and Lila groaned in agreement.

This wasn't going to be fun.

We had been walking for almost an hour. Lila was in charge of the GPS device, and Gerald was keeping an eye out for any zombies that may have wandered into the sewage system. I was focused on the side walk. Every now and again, we might find a crate of Wacko Watches or Dino Spumoni 'freestyle' records.

"Hey, Arnold. Check this out..." said Gerald, pointing to the wall. I moved the light over to the wall. Stretching for as far as I could see, there were marking etched into the cement. They looked like hieroglyphs. I squinted. Something seemed... familiar. "Wow- who do you suppose might have done this?" asked Lila. Gerald shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe... Arnold- you think maybe the Rat King would've done this?" he asked.

"I don't think so... he should be too busy playing chess with his rats to go around inscribing things on the walls..." I said.

Gerald and I had been the sewers a few times before, and each one of those times we had encountered the 'King of the Sewers'- or 'Rat King' for short. The first time we encountered him, it was because I had accidentally dropped my Grandpa's watch down a hole, and it inadvertently ended up wrapped around the Rat Kings neck. After a few hundred games of chess to win the watch back- we finally managed to snatch it away and escape.

The second time was a little... crazier. The Rat King had raised an army of rats in the sewers, and he was planning to take over the city. Unfortunately for him, the rats weren't interested in taking over the city- and they decided to kick him out of the sewers instead. We helped him get his home back- and then snuck away before he could challenge me to another game of chess.

I had heard that Rat King had become Moneyman's arch nemesis over time, and he was trying his best to become a supervillian. Attending workshops and reading books like 'An Idiots Guide to Supervillian-ary'.

I sincerely doubted that Rat King could possibly be the one inscribing these things on the walls... he wasn't really what one could call the 'artistic' type. But that left an important question.

If it wasn't him- who was it?

And then, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. There, on the wall- a picture of a tower. Above it, a giant eye. Ancient letters circled the iris of the eye.

"The eye of our children, ancestors and ourselves- watch over this sacred tower... for this is where he shall end." I read aloud. Gerald and Lila stopped behind me. "Arnold... you can read that stuff?" asked Gerald. I nodded. "It's... I read about this language in my parent's journal..." I muttered.

I moved the light over the rest of the etchings. They stretched across the ceiling and over to the wall across the river of sewage. I frowned. "We... we should come back later- for now... we'd better get to the school." I said. Gerald nodded.

I could see Lila open her mouth to say something and then close it. She looked a little uncomfortable. I could tell what question she had on her mind. She was wearing the same face that everyone else did when they asked. "My parents... were researching markings just like this..." I said. Lila perked up. "They were looking for an ancient tribe..." I trailed off, leaving Lila to fill in the blanks herself.

It still hurt to talk about my parents. I knew that it shouldn't. That as far as I knew- they were still alive somewhere, helping people in need. But... I still hadn't stopped having that dream.

Gerald drew my attention to the GPS, knocking me out of my train of thought. I was grateful.

"Okay- looks like we take a left up ahead, and then it's a straight line to the man-hole in front of the school." said Gerald. I nodded.

We kept on walking in silence- save for the echo made by our feet. By the time we reached our turn however, there was another sounds echoing throughout the sewer tunnels. A voice. Gerald let out a long, tired sigh. I nodded sympathetically. Yes... we both knew that voice.

"WAHAHAHA! Come! Come my minions! Tonight, we shall take the streets!" The Rat King bellowed. Gerald and I glanced around the corner. Sure enough, the Rat King was sitting on top of his makeshift throne- made out of garbage and toilet paper. Commanding an army of rats, lit up by an array of lanterns and candles scattered across the walls. Or at least, he was yelling at a large group of rats who, in turn, didn't seem to be paying him any attention.

"Crimany..." muttered Gerald. "How're we supposed to get past him?"

I shrugged "I don't know. Lila- wait... Where's Lila?" I asked. Gerald and I glanced around. No Lila. I glanced around the corner, and flinched. She was standing directly in front of the Rate King, seeming completely unwavered by the dozens of rats that were scurrying around.

"Hello there!" she greeted.

The Rat King glared down at her from his throne. "WHO DARES ENTER THE THRONE ROOM OF THE RAT KING!?" he bellowed. Gerald and I winced, and covered our ears. Why did he always have to be so loud?

Lila seemed unfazed. "Hello- I'm Lila. My friends were hoping ever-so much to be allowed to pass through." she said with a polite bow. The Rat King seemed taken aback. "OH! Well... er- sure. Okay." he muttered. Lila motioned for us to join her. Gerald and I glanced at each other, and shrugged in silent agreement. Slowly, we slinked our way over to Lila- hoping that we would go unnoticed.

The Rat King was busy yelling at a rat- and subsequently being bitten- to notice us. So, it looked like we were about to make a clean getaway. Then-

"ARNOLD!"

The voice shook the tunnels, and made all of the rats scurry away. I turned around, to see a giant blob of... something crawling out of a hole in the floor. The Rat King squealed in terror. "What in the sewers!?" he yelped. The blob squeezed out of the hole, towering over all of us. The blob swung a part of itself around, and latched onto the Rat King. Suddenly- he was enveloped. The blob began to twist, and churn. Eventually, it started to take the shape of the Rat King.

"AAAAARRRRNOOOOOLD!" It bellowed. This time, it sounds as if the Rat King was speaking as well.

I stood in front of Gerald and Lila. "What are you!?" I yelled.

The blob tried to laugh- although it sounded more like gurgling mud. "You hast forgotten thine existence already, football-child?" It asked. "Well, if I must refresh thine memory... I am the first... monster... you fought. The chocolate monster..." it gurgled. By now, the blob had begun to shrink itself down, and forming the features of the Rat King- crown included.

"I remember..." I said, slowly backing off into the tunnels. Gerald and Lila were staying close. Looking much more afraid than I was. "What do you want?" I asked. The blob gurgled again. "Why... to end thou, of course."

With that, it lunged at us. I pushed Gerald and Lila out of the way, and took a swing to the stomach. I hit the wall with a hard thud, and struggled to breath. The blob raised a giant brown arm, and morphed it into the shape of a mallet. It swung its arm down, but I managed to roll out of the way just in time. It broke some of the lanterns, spraying fuel and fire all over the place. Its arm was engulfed by flames, but it didn't seem too fazed. It swung the mallet around again. I stood myself up, just in time to be pulled out of the way of another swing. Gerald and Lila had me by either hand. We tried to run- but the fire was spreading too quickly. The blob launched at us- sending us all flying off into different directions. I skidded across the floor, finally stopping when I hit the wall.

The Rat Kings throne room was about as wide as two tennis courts- and it was all now covered in flame. The blob stood over me, and lifted its mallet over me. I could make out a smile stretched out across what you could call its face. "ARNOLD! ARNOOLD!" Gerald screamed from the other side of the room. I glanced over at him, as the blobs mallet hung directly above me. "RUN!" he bellowed. He had a crate of something in his hands. I rolled over and ran for cover. Gerald swung the crate around and threw it with everything he had. It hit the blob- getting stuck to it almost instantly. I managed to stand myself up. My vision was blurred, but I could see Gerald and Lila waving at me from the entrance to another tunnel. I ran with everything I had.

By the time I reached them, I could hear Gerald yelling something to Lila. "That was TNT! We need to get the heck outta here!" he yelled. We ran through the tunnels, ignoring the burns or the bruises. We reached a ladder to the surface pretty quickly. Without really thinking about it, we helped Lila up on the ladder first. Then Gerald- I followed. Lila moved faster than I had ever seen her move before. She pushed the man hole cover open, and reached the surface. Then, she spun around to lend Gerald a hand. As Gerald crawled out onto the surface, I could feel something tugging at my leg. I looked down.

The face of the blob had shaped itself to look like the Rat King- and it was completely covered in flames. My leg was searing with pain as I pulled against it. Gerald and Lila pulled me by the hands. Finally, I got loose of the blobs grip with a mighty 'pop'. Gerald and Lila dragged me back onto the sidewalk, as the fiery blob began to squeeze through the man hole. And then-

"BOOOOM!"

The road was ripped apart, and all the three of us were sent flying by the shock wave. The crate of dynamite that Gerald had thrown onto it finally decided to detonate. The glass in building around us shattered, as everything close to the explosion was either destroyed, or incinerated.

My ears were ringing- and every inch of my body was screaming with pain. I glanced over at Gerald and Lila.

They were lying still.

I could feel my heart skip a beat.

No...

_NO!_

Everything went black.

* * *

It was blurry... grey...

"...-ld ...-ke?"

I squinted. I could make out the shape of a face. Red... hair? I frowned. "Wh-who... who?" I mumbled. The face moved, but I couldn't make out what it was saying. I glanced around... but it was all still grey. I closed my eyes, and slowly sat myself up. My ears started ringing again and I could feel a dull pain coursing through my entire body. I opened my eyes again... things slowly began to get clearer.

It was Eugene. Standing in front of me. He was paper white; his eyes were puffy and purple. He was still talking- but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I shook my head and pointed to my ears- and Eugene seemed to understand. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, and scribbled something down. Then he showed it to me.

_'Can't hear properly?' _it read.

I nodded.

Eugene flipped the paper around and wrote something again. Then, he showed it to me.

_'Bummer.'_ it read. I asked him where we were, but I couldn't hear my voice. It was a little unnerving- but Eugene seemed to understand. He started writing again. As he wrote, I looked around. We were sitting in the corner of a classroom. All of the desks and chairs were piled up at the entrance.

I glanced back at Eugene. He had broken the pen, spilling ink all over the paper- and his shirt. I sighed. "Are you okay, Eugene?" I asked. Eugene smiled at me wearily, and nodded. "Where are Gerald and Lila?" I asked. Eugene looked confused. He shook his head. My heart skipped a beat. I sat up, and look outside. The entire street looked like a giant crater. There were little fires spread all over the place. There was no sign of the monster anywhere. It must have been ripped to shreds by the explosion. Which meant that... the rat king probably was too.

I felt sick.

No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find any sign of Gerald and Lila either. I took a deep breath.

"They'll be okay..." I muttered to myself. "They have to be..."

I stood myself up, ignoring the screams of pain my legs were giving me. "Arnold!? Wait! What are you doing?" asked Eugene. This time, I was able to make out what he was saying- although it was still filtered through a loud ringing noise. "I need to find the cause... of the zombies... and I have to find... Gerald... and Lila..." I rasped.

Eugene put a hand on my shoulder. "Arnold... I know what's causing this..." he said. I turned to face him. "What is it?" I demanded. "It was my Snow, Arnold-... It'll always be my Snow..." he said.

All of a sudden, I could hear the sound of banging against the door. Soon enough, it burst open- and all of the desks and chairs that had been piled up against it were sent flying across the room. With that, a sea of people poured into the room, grabbing Eugene and I, and lifting us up over their heads. I didn't put up any resistance- and neither did Eugene. I was too tired...

So I just watched, as we travel down the halls, through the cafeteria and into the playground.

And there it sat.

Snow.

It was bigger than a house. A giant snow-white bulb, decorated with sprinkles of black and gold all over. From the bottom of it, grew hundreds of massive thorny vines that covered the entire playground, the school- and far beyond. One of the zombies placed Eugene in front of the plant. Slowly, the bulb opened up- revealing thousands of rows of long triangular teeth. A long black tentacle erupted out of the mouth of the bulb, and attached itself to the back of Eugene's neck.

I shuddered.

Suddenly, Eugene sat himself up, looking completely calm. I stared into his eyes... I couldn't see his pupils anymore... he was just like all of the others.

"Well, well- if it isn't the guardian child." said Eugene. The zombies threw me to his feet. "What are you...?" I wheezed, as I sat myself up. "What've you done... to Eugene?"

Eugene shrugged. "I lack the ability to communicate with anybody I haven't already... infected. And it would seem that this boy is the only one in the entire city that I am able to... possess." he bared his teeth. "What do you think guardian? Make sense?"

I coughed, and shook my head. "You're... what turned everybody... like this? W-why?" I asked.

"Oh, you know. The same reason any alien life form comes down to your filthy little planet. To take it over. Maybe I'll sell it after I've eaten most of you..." Eugene laughed.

I stood up again. "I think... Eugene is very lonely." I said.

Eugene raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah... He's been made fun of a lot... And for as long as I've known him, he hasn't ever had one particular group of friends. He's a good guy... But he's really clumsy. So no matter what he does... it's hard to take him seriously. I think I remember... Once, Gerald called him the 'comic relief' of the classroom. And I had to agree. It's not like it's his fault though... I don't think he really wants to be known as a clown... and to be made fun of constantly... but... that's the way it is.

Every pet he's ever had, dies. Anybody that he thinks of as a friend will laugh whenever he takes a prat fall... at least once. I think all he wants... is to have somebody, or something... there for him. Just one thing in the world that won't laugh at him..."

Eugene crossed his arms. "And what does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Well... It's just a shame... that he had another pet... that went away." I didn't wait for the plant to say anything else. I leapt at Eugene, and ripped the tentacle out of the back of his neck in one fluid motion. I held onto the tentacle as well as I could as it waved me around in the air. There was a commotion under me. All of the zombies were clawing at me and shouting. Finally, the tentacle flung me free. I rose up far enough that could see the entire city. And then, I fell.

Straight into Snow's open mouth.

* * *

It was dark... and everything was swirling around.

All of a sudden, images began to form around me. I could make out the shape of the cafeteria. There was Eugene... crying. Slowly prying his plant friend off of the wall.

_'What's happening?'_ he asked himself.

Suddenly, a voice entered his mind. _'Do you want to make everything better?' _it asked. Eugene looked up at his flower. _'Snow? Is that... you?' _he asked.

The plant nodded.

_'Lend me your strength Eugene... and I will help you make all of the friend you have ever wanted.'_

_'Really?'_

_'Really.'_

_'Then... what do you need?'_ he asked.

_'You're... BLOOD!'_ the flower opened up, revealing rows upon rows of teeth. Eugene screamed and then...

The vision stopped. I was sitting inside an alien plants stomach- all alone in the dark. Or at least, that was what I thought- until a flash of light shone into my eyes. "Arnold? Is that you?" asked Gerald, holding Helga's light in front of him like a weapon. Lila sat up beside him "Oh, Arnold! It is you!" she yelled. She was about to move over toward me, but Gerald stopped her. "Hold on... I gotta see if he's a zombie or not." he said. With that, he held out his hand to me.

I smiled, weakly- and we did our signature handshake. "It's good to see you, man." said Gerald. I nodded. "Good to see you too, Gerald."

Lila crawled over, and smiled. "You're alive..." she said. I caught her wiping tears out of her eyes out of the corner of my eye, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I ignored it. "What happened to you?" I asked. Gerald shrugged. "Well... we got picked up by some of those zombie jerks, and given to the flower... did... did you have the vision?" he asked.

"Eugene being attacked in the cafeteria?" I asked.

"Yeah... Lila and I saw that too... Lila- what was that theory you had about that?" asked Gerald.

"Oh- well, I just thought that perhaps the plant has some kind of psychic connection with Eugene, and it's too strong to let it really take over anybody else... and maybe that's why everybody else seems like... zombies." she trailed off, and the three of us sat there, the stomach of an alien flower, in awkward silence.

"So... How do we get out of here?" asked Gerald.

I sighed. I opened my mouth to say something- but Lila interrupted. "Do you hear that?" she asked. We went silent. Sure enough, I could hear a tiny sound coming out of my pocket. I rummaged around, and pulled out the ear transceiver. I put it in my ear- wincing as I did so.

"FOOTBALL HEAD!"

I jumped, and yanked the receiver out of my ear. Slowly, I brought it up to my mouth. "Is that you, Helga?" I asked. "WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE!?" Helga's voice boomed out of the tiny ear transceiver, loud enough that even Lila and Gerald could hear it. I sighed and gingerly placed the receiver back into my ear.

"What is it Helga... and please... be a little quieter this time..." I muttered.

"You're at the school right!?" she demanded.

I nodded, and then remembered that she couldn't hear me. "Yes... in the playground."

"What!? With all of the zombies?" she asked.

"Sort of... wait, where are you?"

"Well, your Grandma and I are on the roof of the school... you know there's a giant freaky plant over there, right?" she asked. "Uh, yes. Gerald, Lila and I are... we were swallowed by it." I explained. There was silence on her end for a while.

"Crimany..." she muttered."Here... your Grandma wants to talk..."

"Sheriff?"

I smiled. "Hey Grandma." I greeted. "Gotten yourself trapped in a giant plant again, have you?" she asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, let's see if there's not something I can do about that..." she trailed off.

All of a sudden, everything began to shake. I stood up. "Grandma's here..." I explained. Gerald and Lila stood themselves up too, just in time to see a massive tear in the 'wall' in front of us. All of a sudden, we could see the night sky, and utter pandemonium outside. The zombies were being water bombed, hogtied and generally incapacitated by an army of children. Curly stood in front of us with a triumphant smile. "Welcome to the War Zone!" he bellowed. He was holding a machete in his hands. Although I was happy that he had managed to cut us out with that, I still took it away from him. "Arnold! That's my weapon! You can't take away a generals weapon!" he yelled. I plunged it into the ground. "Don't. Just... don't. For many reasons." I said. Curly looked dejected, until one of his little soldiers gave him a super soaker filled with crazy glue.

"ONWARD BATTALION!" he bellowed.

As Curly disappeared into the fray, Gerald, Lila and I stepped out onto the grass. "Grandma... we have to get rid of the plant... any ideas?" I asked. "I'll send you a little package, Sherriff!" said Grandma. I looked up, just in time to catch a big canister of fuel. "Light er up!" said Grandma.

I nodded. "Hey, guys, see if you can find me something to light a fire with!" I yelled over the sounds of the climactic battle going on all around us. Gerald and Lila nodded, and then disappeared into the fray.

I unscrewed the cap and started pouring fuel all over the vines, and the base of the flower. Then, something knocked the fuel canister out of my hands. "What are you doing!?" I looked up, to see Eugene glaring at me, with tears in his eyes.

"It has to be stopped, Eugene!" I yelled.

"NO! I won't let you hurt her!" he yelled. He tackled me to the ground, and wrapped his hands around my neck. "I won't... I WON'T!" he screamed. "Stop it... Eugene..." I choked. I tried to pull his hands off of me, but he was too strong. "Eugene... You know... that... it's dangerous..." I whimpered.

"No she isn't! She's my friend!" he yelled.

"Then why... were you hiding... before? You... know... it..." I couldn't speak anymore. Everything was staring to go blurry... I slowly raised my hand... and with every bit of strength I had left, I punched him across the jaw. He rolled off of me almost instantly, and I gasped for air.

"She... she's all I have..." Eugene whimpered.

"Don't... be an idiot..." I wheezed. I stood up, still feeling woozy. "You... are only... as alone... as you think you are." I said. "Everybody feels isolated... because they live in their own little worlds... but you... you can break down those barriers by yourself. Just... be there."

"Arnold!" yelled Gerald. He threw me a box of matches. I caught it, and glanced over at Eugene. "Sorry, Eugene..." I muttered. With that, I lit up the match, and threw it at the base of the flower. The fire flared up with a vengeance, as the plant let out an ear splitting squeal. All of the zombies stopped what they were doing, and stared at the flower.

As the fire continued to rage on, the plants vines stopped writing, and the noise began to stop. All of the zombies suddenly collapsed. Unconscious.

"VICTORY!" Curly bellowed. All of the children cheered.

I sat down.

Finally...

"Arnold!" I looked up, in time to see Helga, Lila and Grandma running towards me. "You okay sheriff?" asked Grandma. I nodded. Curly marched over to us, with his head held high. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The heroes of the Apocalypse!" he announced.

"Gertie!"

Grandma bowed.

"Gerald!"

Gerald grinned. "Oh, you know, it was noth-"

"Lila!"

Lila gave the crowd a polite curtsy.

"Helga!"

The crowd fell silent. "Oh, har, har. Very funny." said Helga, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Arnold!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. I smiled. As they cheered, I turned around and helped Eugene back to his feet. "And let's not forget the greatest one of them all- EUGENE!" I yelled. Eugene jumped, as dozens of kids erupted into cheers.

Eugene looked confused, and then, he smiled. "Thank you, Arnold... sorry..." he said.

"EU-GENE! EU-GENE!" the crowd cheered. "Hey! He didn't even do anything!" Curly's objections apparently went completely unnoticed.

Everybody cheered. And laughed. Even Big Bob, who was standing on the side-lines with a 'double chainsaw', which was actually just one chainsaw duct-taped to another chainsaw, cracked a smile. Despite being obviously disappointed that he didn't get the chance to use his new 'toy'.

And then, I felt something hit me. I fell backwards, just as the sound of a gunshot rung throughout the city. Everybody went silent. Or maybe... I just couldn't hear them anymore. I looked down at me chest...

Lila was pressing down on it with my half-ripped shirt. There was so much blood... My vision started to fade. Their faces began to distort.

And then... I was dead.

* * *

**TBC.**

* * *

(AN: Read and Review. Apologies for rushed action sequences... feedback is appreciated. I do not own 'Hey Arnold!')


	7. Chapter 7

_Gerald had been laying there staring at the ceiling, for the better part of thirty minutes. Nap time was almost up, and he didn't manage to get so much as a second worth of sleep. He tossed. He turned. He grumbled. But still, nothing. Nap time would be over just before gym... and at this point, he just knew that he was going to be all tired and sluggish._

_He grit his teeth. This wasn't good. No... not good at all. Of all days to be all restless, it had to be today..._

_Every month, Miss Lisa would have a little competition. If you could manage to make it all the way up the gym rope, you would get a whole plate of her world famous chocolate chip cookies. Gerald wanted those cookies. Heck, everybody did. Harold had been training his rope climbing skills for weeks, just for this moment. Stinky was coaching him, and Sid was usually there somewhere with them. Stinky was the only kid to be able to climb the rope last month... he was so lucky._

_He shared the cookies with Sid and Harold, and gave one to Arnold. Stinky owed Arnold for something, although Gerald couldn't remember exactly what._

_Arnold being the person he was, he naturally split it in half and shared it with Gerald. And it was simply the greatest thing he had ever tasted. Ever since then, he had become obsessed. He had to win those cookies. No matter what. He had spent the next few weeks eating raw eggs for breakfast, running while wearing sweatshirts and yelling 'ADRIAN!' whenever possible._

_He hoped that it worked._

_TIme seemed to be crawling by, as Gerald continued to wriggle in place. Everybody else was asleep. Helga was lying down next to Arnold over by the far corner, nuzzling closer and closer to him with every few minutes. Harold was snoring loudly right next to Gerald, and chewing his teddy bear. Meanwhile, everybody else was scattered across the room, all sound asleep. Some of them, like Eugene and Sid seemed to be having nightmares, but that was about it._

_Nobody was awake but Gerald._

_Well... Gerald, and that girl by the doorway._

_Gerald frowned, and sat up. "Hey!" he whispered, doing his best not to wake anybody. "What are you doing?" he asked. The girl sitting by the door way jumped, and moved her book over her face. Gerald crawled over to her, being careful not to step on anybody on the way there._

_"Hey- what are you doing?" he repeated._

_The girl shrunk behind her book. She looked scared... Gerald scratched the back of his head. 'Am I scary?' he wondered. 'I'm not even wearing my batty pajamas or nothin'...' he thought to himself. Gerald read the title of the book that the girl was currently cowering underneath._

_'Rope Theory, by Isaac Carlin'_

_Gerald scratched the back of his head, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Oh- do you wanna win Miss Lisa's cookies too?" he asked. The girl shuddered. After a minute or so of complete silence (save for some obnoxious snoring and somebody reciting poetry in their sleep), Gerald heard a tiny voice emerge from behind the book._

_"Yes."_

_"Oh. Well, yur never going to learn how to climb the rope just by reading about it! You gotta train! Eye of the Dragon, okay?" said Gerald. The girl lowered the book, just enough for her to be able to see his face. "Don't you mean... the tiger?" she asked. Gerald shook his head. "Nu-uh. The dragon is much better. That's why he keeps on almost losing, and losing. 'Cuz he uses the tigers eye instead of the dragons!" said Gerald._

_The girl closed her book, and placed it on her lap. Now, Gerald could see her face properly. She was really... small. With long black hair, and bright blue glasses. Gerald frowned. Had he met this person before? He thought about it... Maybe... was she the girl that was always with Helga G Pataki?_

_"Who?" she asked._

_Gerald blinked._

_"What?"_

_"Who keeps on almost losing, or losing?"_

_Gerald thought for a moment. "Oh! The eye of the tiger man! He's in movies. Haven't you seen the movies?" he asked._

_The girl seemed to be deep in thought._

_"I... I saw a movie with Helga yesterday... I think..."_

_"What was it?"_

_"Um... I don't remember... it was in french..."_

_"French? Why would you and Helga go see a movie in French?" asked Gerald. The girl jumped. "Oh... Oh! That was a secret... promise you won't tell anybody!" she whispered. Gerald raised an eyebrow._

_"No! I can't tell you!" said the girl._

_Gerald continued raising his eyebrow._

_"No... Helga'll get really mad..."_

_Gerald continued raising his eyebrow._

_"Well... Helga likes it... and, we snuck in- because her dad wanted to watch that army movie..."_

_Gerald smiled. "It's okay- Arnold and I do that sometimes too!" he grinned. The girl returned the smile. "So, what's your name, anyway?" he asked._

_"Ph-Phoebe..." she stuttered._

_Gerald stuck a hand out. "Gerald." he stated._

_There was an awkward pause, as Phoebe stared at his hand, and then at his face. Gerald sighed. Carefully, he picked up Phoebe's hand, and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Phoebe." he said with a smile._

_Phoebe blushed. "Uh... uh-huh."_

_Suddenly, the door burst open, flinging them both across the floor. "Okay kids! Wake up! It's time for Gym!" yelled Miss Lisa in great enthusiasm. Everybody began to move at once. Helga first of course, having realized that she had spent the better part of nap time snuggled next to her beloved. Harold complained that somebody had been chewing on his teddy bear while he was sleeping, and Eugene woke up with a start- as if he had just woken up at the scariest part of his nightmare._

_Gerald picked himself up. He watched as Phoebe and Helga left the room, talking about something he couldn't quite make out. "Hey, Gerald." said Arnold, as he helped his best friend get to his feet. "Are you ready?" he asked._

_"Are you kidding? Eye of the dragon, man!" yelled Gerald._

_Just outside of the classroom, Phoebe and Helga were making their way to the gym. As they made there way down the long halls, surrounded by classmates, Phoebe giggled to herself._

_"Eye of the Dragon..." she smiled._

_She would remember that._

* * *

**Gerald's POV**

* * *

It was pitch black. It had been raining for hours now- with no end in sight. I shivered, and tugged harder on my raincoat. I was at least, sort of dry. But it didn't help the cold.

I inched closer to the edge of the building, and put on the night-vision goggles. It was hard to see through the rain, but I could make out two small shapes in the building across the road. I zoomed in, but it didn't make a difference. The rain was just too heavy. I gulped.

Very carefully, and using my body to shield it from most of the rain- I pulled out the listening device. It looked like a small cassette player, with two long wires coming out the back of it. One attached to small plastic cone, and the other attached to a big pair of ear phones. I gulped. "I hope at least some of this is water proof..." I grumbled to myself.

I hadn't planned on the rain. Which in retrospect was pretty dumb, I guess. It'd been raining like this non-stop for days now. Why would it suddenly stop just for my little operation. I cursed myself and the rain, as I aimed the cone at the window across the road. I carefully fit the head phones on underneath the hood of my raincoat, and began to tune it.

All I was picking up was the sound of rain. No matter how much I toyed with the dial- that was it. I began to grumble to myself. I turned the device off and on again- just to see if that would make a difference. The rain continued to pound down on me and the city without mercy. And to top it all off, it was suddenly beginning to feel even colder.

Minutes dragged by, feeling like hours. I'd long since lost track of how long I'd been lying here... It felt like an eternity. I sighed. And then...

"-ah-..."

I jumped. "Was that- Oh! I got something!" I muttered to myself. I quickly started trying to tune it in. Soon enough, the voices started getting clearer. But it was still next to impossible to make out certain words through the rain and the static. Still. I decided to press record.

I hoped that I would get something this time.

"Still- ... That's insane!" said one of the voices. I frowned.

"Y-... Like- ... Beepers?"said the other.

I growled. I tried moving the dial again. I could hear a little bit of chatter, and somebody had apparently left their stereo on, blaring very loudly somewhere near the bottom. But that was it.

Another... bust.

It had taken me a long time to get the police reports on Arnold's shooting. Too long. I wanted to break into the station and take them- but nobody seemed to know how to pick a lock. Or at least, nobody would tell me. The only reason I was able to learn what I had, was because the news had been doing a lot of coverage on the incident. They had also reported, quite recently- that the police had figured out where the shot had come from.

It was the building across the street from me. It was an apartment building. On the sixth floor, there was a window overlooking the city. They'd taped off the most likely apartment- and sure enough, they found nothing.

The furniture that was originally in there, the curtains, the carpeting and even the wall paper... the room had been completely stripped. The only piece of evidence they had found- was waiting for them on the window sill. A shell casing.

Since I'd read about it, I had been spending the majority of my time on the roof top of the building across the road from the apartment building- just waiting. And hoping. I knew that it was hopeless. If this person were a professional- there was no way that we was going to return to the scene of the crime. But I had to hope. It was the only lead I had...

I glanced at my watch, and sighed. Dinner time was fast approaching... if I didn't get home in time- I would be subject to a serious interrogation from my parents. I was skating on thin ice as it was. Spending most of my time out of the house by my self... I could tell that they were getting worried. Luckily, they seemed to want to give me space to grieve. Which I really had to get around to actually _doing _some time.

As it was- most of my energy had been spent tracking this so-called 'mystery sniper' and trying to track Isaac down. If I wasn't doing that, I was probably either zoning out at school, or sleeping. Mostly, sleeping.

Just thinking about it made me start to feel drowsy. I grit my teeth. This was day... what? Four? Five? Whatever it was- it'd been a while. And still, nothing. I don't know what I was expecting to find... or what I would do if I actually did find something. I just... don't know.

I began to pack everything up- doing my best not to let water get into the myriad of plastic bags I was keeping everything in. And then, I picked myself up and climbed down the fire escape. The alleyway felt like one giant puddle. Which meant that it was virtually impossible for me not to get my socks wet. Which led to uncomfortable 'squelching' sounds, all the way back home.

I didn't have an umbrella. So I settled for hunching over the equipment and silently hoping that I wasn't going to get a bad cold from all of this. I hadn't so far- but there was no telling when that luck would run out.

As I sort of... sloshed, down the streets- my mind began to do what it always did in silent situations. It began to... make a dialogue. Shutting it off had been much easier recently- but for some reason, this one seemed a little... stronger. And then, it brought up that...

The thing I didn't want to think about.

I decided to focus on something else.

And immediately it went to girls. This, I could think about.

Girls.

All I'd ever wanted to do- especially recently- was impress girls. Anything I did- that was the root of it. Some time ago, I'd wanted to start a band with Arnold. A boy band. Or a rock band. Or... a... er... Well, Arnold wanted to make a jazz band. Because Arnold thinks it's twenty years ago, and everybody's wearing beret's all the time. That was something... they'd played jazz at his funeral too.

I sighed.

Arnold and I had done a lot of things together... ever since kindergarten. We'd participated in the gnarliest of food fights, visited haunted houses and subways, saved the town from a big chinned villain... Actually, we'd done everything short of going into space. Arnold had a thing for the stars as well. His telescope was still sitting by my bedroom window. Arnold had left it to me... as well as his record collection and a number of his books.

It was really weird, actually. How he had already figured out how he wanted his belongings to be split when he died... What kid does that? When did Arnold make a will? And... and why...

I stopped in my tracks. I could feel things starting to bubble up- and I had to work to push them back down. If Mom say that I'd been crying or something, she'd know that something was up. I bit my tongue, until the rush of emotions began to die down. Then, I continued walking. This time- I just focused on the sound of the rain.

* * *

I got home a few minutes later, to find Jamie-O standing at the door- waiting for me. I flinched. "Wh-what... How are you, Jamie-O?" I chuckled weakly. I immediately berated myself. How could I make myself seem even _more_ suspicious than I seemed before? The rain-coat? The multiple plastic bags filled with seemingly random electronics?

Jamie-O didn't say anything for a little while, as we both just stood there is awkward silence for a few minutes.

"Mom... went little nuts just before. With... worry." he explained. I could feel deep churning in the pit of my stomach. '_Not good...' _I thought. Jamie-O shrugged. "I told her that you were at that... the, uh- theater kids house. He covered for you too... so... your safe for now." he explained.

I let out a low sigh of relief.

"But hey- Gerald... I don't like lying to mom... okay?" he asked. I nodded. And with that, I slinked past him and went inside. I was immediately hit with a more that welcome stream of nice, warm air. Dad had touched the thermostat... It must've been colder than I thought. Mom saw me come in, and shot me a smile. I smiled back and offered her a wave, before I started trudging upstairs and into my room.

I didn't turn on my light. I just shed the wet rain coat, and threw it on the floor. Along with the spy equipment. Then, I laid in bed. It didn't take long for there to be a knock on my door. I sat up, fully expecting to have my mother come in and grill me. I was surprised, when the door opened a crack- and Timberly slowly peered in.

She looked like she was trying to hide behind the door. I grit my teeth.

"M-mom... says dinner is ready... Gerald..." she said.

I raised my eyebrows, but before I could say anything- she was gone. That was the most she had said to me since the funeral. Usually it was just muttering and staring at the floor. I sighed, and hauled myself out of bed. I was surprised by how much my legs were resisting me. I guess I'd done a little too much walking today. I groaned, and picked myself up. I was still a little damp... but, oh well. I went down stairs, slowly.

Everybody was sitting at the table quietly. Just... eating. It was meatloaf tonight. I didn't mind it too much- mom could be really good at cooking when she wanted to be. And then there was the tuna casserole incident... the memory of it still made my dad and I go green.

I ate. Put my dishes in the sink, and went back to my room.

* * *

I didn't sleep. Sunlight began to leak into my bedroom. I didn't bother checking the clock. I just picked up a fresh change of clothes, and made my way to the bathroom. The good thing about insomnia, was that there was never a line for me at the bathroom. It just made for more alone time, all in all. The bad thing though- was school.

My grades had never been particularly remarkable. But now, well... I'd never seen so many F's. It couldn't be helped, though. I was usually fifty to a hundred percent asleep at school, which made it very difficult to do any kind of studying. And I didn't have time for homework, either. I was usually too busy hunting down an assassin to pay attention to homework.

I was making myself some toast, when my dad strode into the kitchen in his bathrobe. He put the jug on, and got his coffee mug ready. "Dad?" I asked. My dad turned his to face me, as he stirred his coffee. "Yes, Gerald?" he asked, as he took a seat at the table. I decided to take a seat in front of him.

"Does coffee really help you stay awake properly?" I asked.

Dad shrugged. "Well, I its only good in moderation, Gerald. You can make yourself very sick by drinking too much." he explained between sips of coffee. I nodded. "Can I try it?" I asked. My gave me an odd look. "I think your still a little young for it Gerald. You shouldn't drink it until your body is at least mostly developed." he said.

I sighed. The only reason I hadn't tried coffee yet- was because Mom and Dad were always around in the morning. I was sure that just a little bit would be enough to keep me awake for the day... I sighed, and poured myself a glass of milk.

Oh well.

We were eating in silence when mom came into the kitchen, also wearing a bathrobe- coupled with a pair of pink bunny slippers. She did the same thing my dad did- she boiled the jug and made herself a cup of coffee. We sat there, the three of us. Nobody saying anything. Finally- I finished my breakfast and got of my seat.

"I'm gonna go to school a little early..." I explained. With that, I left the house. Feeling... tired.

It was early enough that I could probably make it all the way to school on foot. So, I started walking. The sun was out, but it was starting to get blocked out by massive collections of grey clouds. It made everything feel really gloomy when it started getting rainy like this.

I sighed.

Hillwood had been really quiet lately. There were no signs of anything odd... Even Monkeyman seemed to have disappeared. It was as if everything had stopped. Everyone in class was beginning to get back to normal by now. I guess time had helped with that. Eugene had started hanging out with Sid, Stinky and Harold recently. That was one thing that was different... and then there was Helga... and Lila.

I didn't let myself think about the other person. I'll do what Arnold did... I'll ignore it.

Er- That's not fair... Arnold... his... well- I knew it was difficult. We didn't have to talk about it for me to know at least that. Ever since we saved the city, I could sense that something had changed in him. It wasn't like he was noticeably different or anything... he was just... different. Maybe... a little sadder.

I felt my chest tighten. I should've talked to him about that...

Rain was beginning to sprinkle down from above, so I sped up my pace. The last thing I wanted was to get sick again. Being stuck in a room, feeling sick and being sad... Well, it wasn't fun. After a few minutes, the light shower began to die down. By the time I reached the school, the first bus was just arriving, and the skies were beginning to darken.

I walked up the steps in a hurry. It was going to start really raining, any minute now.

Once I was finally inside, I was able to take a breath. And walk over to my locker. Its contents hadn't really changed over the past few years. There was still a baseball in there. All of my text books. A note pad. A pack of playing cards. A skate. Not a pair of skates, just one. I'd been meaning to figure out who that belonged too...

Other than that- the rest seemed like trash. Empty bottles of yahoo soda, chocolate bar wrappers and every school newsletter I'd ever gotten. "Well, there's nothing better to do..." I mumbled to myself. I slowly began to pick up as much trash as my arms could carry, and take it to the trash can. I was after three trips. I checked my watch- and sure enough... It looked like no time had passed at all. I sighed.

Now, my locker looked less like a dump and more like a... well, a locker. As I sorted through the mountain of textbooks I had piled up in my locker- I saw something odd. It was a book. A really small one. I pulled it out from underneath a heavy math book.

'Complete Fools Guide to... Mini-Golf' was the title printed across its cover. I frowned. _'What the heck?'_ I thought to myself. I didn't remember buying a book about mini-golf... I flipped the book around. There, across the words on the back of the book, was a big stamp that read 'Property of PS118'.

I gulped.

This was a library book? More than that- it was from back when PS118 was still called PS118? That meant it had to be about... three years overdue? I scratched the back of my head. Had it really been that long?

I geuss... I geuss it had. Almost four years, now.

Back when PS118 was still PS118, the middle school across down had burned down. So it was decided by the school board- that the middle school would move into PS118.

It was... chaos. It seemed like there was a food fight, or a trash can-stuffing, at least once a day. Tensions were running high between the leader of the Primary Schoolers, and the Middle Schoolers. And then, there was the day of the great 'Frothiness'. It was a normal day... Arnold and I were sneaking past the Middle School hall monitors, and somewhere- Eugene was being stuffed into a trash can. And then, all hell broke loose. Not many people know what happened that day. All of a sudden, the entire school was completely filled by a tidle wave of... foam. Class rooms, hallways- even the cafeteria. All of it was flooded.

That day, the Primary Schoolers and the Middle Schoolers signed a treaty. And the war was over.

During the 'Frothening' as it would be called for generations to come- Arnold and I found Helga and Curly, both carrying giant bags of bi-carbonated soda and vinegar. I guess I outta be grateful to them for effectively putting a stop to the war- but the place still smelled faintly of vinegar. No matter how much we scrubbed it.

Anyway- it was eventually decided that the middle school would just stay attached to the primary school- since it would apparently cost too much money to repair. And while that meant that my class could still have Mr Simmons as our teacher... it was still a little... weird.

I stared at the book again. Trying my best to remember if Arnold and I had ever been in a mini-golf tournement... I sighed. Either way, it wasn't important. It was probably early enough in the day that I could sneak into the school library without seeing... Pheobe. Besides, it wasn't like I had anything better to do at the moment.

I walked to the library, listening to the echo of my footsteps.

The library wasn't open, so I carefully slid the book into the return slot. I sighed, and checked the time again. Still an hour until class started. I sighed again. I really needed to stop coming to school so early... But what else was there to do? Timberly would be watching her cartoons, Jamie-O would be eating or talking on his cell phone. Or both.

As I grumbled about the annoyances of having a full house, I walked into somebody. Hard. "Ow!" I grumbled. I rubbed my forehead. That was gonna hurt for a while. I glanced down in front of me, to see Lila picking up the pile of books that she had dropped all over the floor.

"Oh! Sorry, man." I said. Lila looked up at me, and flashed me a smile. "Never mind, Gerald. Could you please help me with this?" she asked. I nodded. Crouching down, I began to pick up the large amount of comic books that she had dropped. "What're you doing with all of these?" I asked. Lila sighed. "Oh, I keep on hiring these comic books from the library... And I keep on forgetting to return them. It is ever-so bothersome... But, luckily I remembered to bring them with me today. Otherwise I would have had to wait all through the holidays to return them!" she explained.

I nodded. The last day of school for the year... I'd almost forgotten.

Together, we carried the piles of comic books and trudged back upstairs to the library. Just as the one person I really didn't want to see was opening it up. Pheobe stared at us, with the library keys in her hand. Then, without saying anything- she opened the doors and went inside. Lila and I shared a look.

Before Lila could offer to return everything herself, I started walking ahead of her. I pushed the door open with my shoulder, and held it open for Lila. Phoebe had the return box at the counter, and had just started scanning the books and putting them on a trolly- ready to be sorted, and put back on the shelves.

Lila and I placed the piles of comic books on the counter, right in front of her. "Sorry about that, Phoebe..." Lila trailed off. Phoebe glanced up to her and smiles. "Its okay Lila- at least you remembered." she said. While the two of them started chatting awkwaardly, I began to look around.

It had been a while since I had been in the library. Even before Arnold died, or the aawkwardness between Phoebe and I started. I did like to read- but I usually only visited the city library every now and again. Or I'd go to the comic book shop with Arnold. Actually, I'd been running into Lila in the comic book shops a lot more often recently... She told me that she had gotten a part time job so that she could by the new comic books that she loved. They were Japanese ones... I think they have a different name. Lila would tell me, but then I'd mispronounce it or something, and eventually I'd just forget it again.

As I scanned the area, I noticed a small book case in front of all of the others, with a sign on it that read 'New Titles'. I walked over to it to have a closer look.

There was the new Dino Spimoni autobiography, 'He Moanies', a guide on how to survive a robot uprising, the last boy wizard book, and a collection of vampire books. And then, I saw it.

_'The Void by John E.C.'_

I gasped. "You have the Void, here!? I can't believe it! That's the only John E.C book that I've never read!" I exclaimed. "You gotta let me read it!"

Phoebe looked slightly taken aback. "Oh... well... if you can return it after school... I can let you have it for the day..." she said. She looked uncomfortable, but I didn't take any notice. This was the first thing I could be excited about in... forever. I instantly pulled my wallet out of my pocket, and gave Phoebe my library card. With a bit of awkward hesitance, Phoebe took the card, and then the book, scanned them both, and gave them back to me.

I beamed. "Thanks Pheebs!" I exclaimed. Phoebe flinched. Oh... I'm not supposed to call her that anymore... am I? I felt a twinge in my stomach, so I decided to focus back on the book. "Come on, Lila! Lets go find somewhere for me to read this puppy!" I said. Lila grinned. "Of course. Shall we go to the tree behind the school?" she asked. I nodded.

"Let's go!"

And with that, we left. Leaving Pheobe to continue working in silence.

* * *

It was still cold outside, but other than that- it was fairly tranquil. Lila and I sat down underneath the only tree in the playground. Usually, especially during recess- it would be filled with people already. But it was early and cool enough that there wasn't a single person in the playground. I smiled, and opened my new book.

_'With thanks to Desired-Hanyou-Aly, for being patient with me.'_

_'The Void by John E.C'_

I grinned. I glanced at Lila, who was already reading a book of her own. With that, I went back to reading.

'_Jimmy stood alone. The darkness swirling about in the sky, like a thick plume of smoke. He checked his blaster. Empty. Of course. He growled. He didn't want to die like this. Not swallowed by the darkness, like countless others before him. He had to win. He had too. He had family... friends... all of whom would die if he didn't escape quickly. He needed to get back home... He took a deep breath. He needed to think...'_

The sound of the school bell made both Lila and I jump. We shared a look. "Do you wanna... skip?" I asked. Lila shook her head. "No thank you, Gerald. But I would be happy to cover you if you wish too." she said. I thought for a moment, and then nodded. If I could be given a chance to avoid Helga and Phoebe... I'd take it. "Thank you, Lila" I said. Lila gave me a bright and sunny smile. "Enjoy yourself." she said.

And so, I kept on reading. Time began to fly by- and before I knew it, I was beginning to feel tired. I carefully placed my thumb on the page I was on, and closed the book. As my vision began to blur, I could feel my consciousness slipping away from me.

* * *

_A white room. The purest of whites. A chandelier of clear crystal hang down from the ceiling, over a long table. The walls were decorated with paintings. I squinted. One of them was of me... and Arnold. And another was Arnold, Lila and I... running from a pack of zombies. And there was another one... of Arnold, lying on the ground... motionless. Covered in blood. And then another... The casket. The tombstone... The rain... and everybody I knew, dressed in black. It was the funeral._

_I stared at it for a while. And then, the sound of a piano began to ring through the air._

_I couldn't place the song..._

_I turned around. Over in the far corner, was a big white piano. And there playing it, was Phoebe._

_My heart skipped a beat._

_"Are you okay... Gerald?" she whispered._

_Her voice was so small... but it echoed throughout the room. I could feel my chest start to tighten. "Gerald?" she whispered. "Are you... okay... Gerald?" she asked._

_I was starting to feel sick. My chest was beginning to feel like it was on fire... I couldn't move... or breath..._

_"Ger-ald?" she whispered._

_"H-ey... Ge-rald?" _

_I started to shiver. "I... I'm not..." I whimpered. "I'm not... okay..."_

_Suddenly, the ceiling opened up. The walls and the floor seemed to fade away. Replaced by an endless sea of black. It was the abyss... The void._

_The darkness began to swirl around, like a cloud of thick smoke. I could feel my senses slowly begin to go numb. I was starting to fade away... fade into nothingness..._

_Like my best friend had._

_I held my breath. I could accept this. If Arnold wasn't somebody who deserved to live... then neither was I. Tears began to slide down my face. This was it._

_"Good bye, mom... dad..." I muttered._

_"Timberly... Jamie-O..."_

_"Lila... Pheobe..."_

_I closed my eyes. Goodbye-_

_"Gerald!"_

_I opened my eyes. "What?" I whispered to myself. "Hey, Gerald! Wake up, sleepy-head! You have to return your book now, don't you?"_

I opened my eyes. The tree... the playground... I was back in reality.

Lila gave me a wave. "Hello? Gerald? You awake yet?" she asked. I nodded. "Yeah, I just... I had a crazy dream..." I muttered. "Well, come on now, Gerald! We simply must return your book, before Phoebe leaves for the holidays!" Lila exclaimed. I nodded, and slowly stood myself up.

"Alright, lets go."

I stood myself up, slowly. My legs were a little wobbly, but I shook it off. As Lila and I walked back inside, the dream began to fade from my memory. I was grateful. I'd been having a lot of nightmares lately. Although none of them were quite like... that. Most of them involved watching Arnold fall... and seeing his Grandma trying to resuscitate him, as he continues to bleed, and bleed, and bleed.

I shuddered.

"Are you okay, Gerald?" asked Lila.

I flinched.

"Yes- well, I mean... no. I just had a... a really weird dream." I said. Lila nodded. "Not a nightmare?" she asked. "Well... I guess it does... sort of... qualify." I explained. She looked concerned, but I didn't want her to. We walked to the library in silence. We arrived just in time to see something made me feel... ill.

Helga and Phoebe were standing by the library counter, talking. I took a breath. I had a lot of trouble dealing with Helga alone... I was glad that Lila was with me. She always seemed to know how to diffuse a situation- just like Arnold. I glanced at her. Lila looked a little worried. She turned to face me, and we shared a nod. We would go in together.

I opened the library door and let Lila in first. "Um, hey. I've got to, uh- return the book..." I muttered, nervously. Phoebe and Helga stopped talking, and turned to face me. I managed not to flinch- but it was difficult. Helga's face turned sour. "Ugh... what're you want, tall hair boy?" she demanded.

I grit my teeth. The last thing I wanted to do was get into a fight with her. Lila stepped in between us, to my great relief. "Oh- we're just here to return a few books we got this morning... Isn't that right, Gerald?" she asked. I nodded.

Helga snarled. "Whatever, dweebs."

Lila carefully placed her comic book on the counter, and then turned to face me. I rose my hands up- Only to find that they were empty. I gulped. I checked my pockets- nothing.

I turned to face Lila. "Uh- Sorry Lila. I'll be right back- wait here." I said. Before she could so much as open her mouth to respond, I ran out the doors, down the stairs and across the hallway. There was people everywhere, all shuffling towards the exit as fast as they could. I ran past a few familiar faces, and eventually got to the back exit. I opened the door, and my heart sank.

It was raining. No just raining- pouring.

I quickly jogged over to the tree, and found the book. Hunching over it to protect it from the rain, I made my was back inside. With the book in my hands, I ran back to the library- making it back in record time. I tried to catch my breath, as I shook the book to dry it off, and put it on the counter.

"Sorry..." I muttered. Phoebe gave me a disapproving look, but didn't say anything. "Moron..." muttered Helga. I looked at Lila, and immediately regretted leaving her with Helga. She looked... tired. And sad. I resisted the urge to yell at Helga for whatever it was that she had said to her.

"You wanna go to Slausens?" I asked, ignoring the other two girls in the room.

Lila nodded weakly. We walked out of the library, and Helga and Phoebe went back to talking.

"Sorry..." I muttered, as we made our way down the stairs. Lila sighed. "She's... gotten a lot meaner." she said.. "You want me to say something to her?" I growled. She shook her head. "No... let's just go have a nice chocolate sundae. After all, its the start of the holidays for us!" She said.

A little bit of the color returned to her face when she mentioned ice-cream, and I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah- I guess so." I said. By the time we reached the hallway, it was practically empty. Except for a lone Mr Simmons, carrying a massive piled of paper work. "You'd better have an umbrella ready, Mr Simmons." I said. Mr Simmons turned to face me. I couldn't see his face properly through the stack of paper.

"Gerald? I thought that you were in the nurses office..." he said. I glanced at Lila. She nodded. "Yeah... I'm feeling a little better now, though- y'know. But, uh- like I said. It's raining pretty heavy out there... you'll need an umbrella." I said.

"Well, I appreciate the concern, Gerald- but I'm not going outside with all of this stuff. I just need to take it to Mr Wartz's office. Now if you'll excuse me... oh! And have a happy holidays!" he said, as he shuffled off.

I turned to face Lila. "You, uh... You have an umbrella, right Lila?" I asked. She shook her head, looking sheepish. I sighed. "Okay... looks like we'll have to run."

And with that, we opened the school doors- and ran as fast as we could, all the way to Slausens.

By the time we made it, we were absolutely soaked. And cold.

I took off my shirt, and wrang it out. Lila however, didn't have that luxury. Luckily for the both of us- Slausens had a heater. We walked up to the counter, and sat down on the stools. I still had my wallet in my pocket. And before Lila could protest, I ordered two hot chocolates- and paid for it myself. Lila didn't really like it when I did that, but she was still thankful.

While we waiting for our drinks, an awkward silence seemed to fall over us. I cleared my throat. "So... how was class?" I asked. Lila smiled. "Oh, it was normal. There was a party for the end of the year- with cupcakes. Mister Simmons made them himself, I believe. And it only took five minutes for Helga to smash one into somebody's face." she explained.

I sighed. Everybody had taken Arnolds death in their own ways. Most of them were content with crying for a week straight, like Sid and Eugene. Others, like Harold, acted like it never happened. Nadine arranged some flowers with Rhonda, and they put it on Arnolds grave site along with a note. And then, there was Helga.

For the first few weeks, she had simply disappeared. When she came back to school, she was practically her normal old self. Except that she was now much, much angrier. Her first week back, she had gotten into almost a hundred fights. One of them with Harold. She was suspended after she had broken somebodys face. The only time she ever seemed calm ws when she was talking to Phoebe. But that was about it.

She was particularly angry with Lila and I. She would take any chance she had to insult us, annoy us- or even try to fight us. Lila was better at ignoring it than I was. Helga and I had even gotten into a fairly serious fist fight after school one day... She broke my nose and loosened more than one of my teeth. And I gave her a nice big black eye.

I felt bad about that. And nobody but Lila, Helga and I knew about it. I told my parents that I had tripped. And everybody just assumed that Helga had gotten her black eye from another school yard brawl.

I just... I knew that Helga was just acting out, because she was upset about what happened to Arnold. But... I loved Arnold. He was like a brother to me. She was angry at me, because she didn't think I was upset enough about Arnold's death. Just because I wasn't weeping at all times, she assumed that I didn't care.

It made me angry just thinking about it. Luckily, my thoughts were interrupted when our hot chocolates arrived. I shot the barman a grateful smile, when I noticed two marshmallows floating in our cups. "It looked like you needed it." he said. I nodded. Boy, did I ever.

Lila and I sipped our drinks, and let out a long sigh.

We were... content.

"Hey, what're you lovebirds doin' here?"

Well- that was quick.

I spun around on the stool, to face Helga. She was soaking wet, along with Phoebe- who was standing next to her, trying to clean her glasses.

"We're just friends, Pataki." I said.

Helga snorted, and leaned against the bar. "Hey, bucko! We'll have two chocolate fudge sundaes! And make it snappy!" she yelled. The barman rolled his eyes, and then left to get some bowls.

"That was rude, Helga." said Lila.

I blinked. This was a surprise. Apparently, it was a surprise to Helga too. But she quickly recovered. "Oh, who cares!?" she yelled. "I'll be rude if I feel like it!"

I could see Lila bare her teeth. This time, I stood in between them. Helga glared at me, but I stared her down. Finally, the barman arrived with their sundaes, and they went to a booth on the other side of the room. I gave a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. I turned to face Lila. "Why'd you try to pick a fight with her?" I asked. Lila shrugged. "I just... She needs to snap out of it." she said. With that, she downed the rest of her hot chocolate, and got off of her stool.

"I'll see you later, dad." she said. And with that, she was gone. I turned to face the barman. "Your Mister Sawyer?" I asked. The barman smiled. I noticed a pin on the apron that he was wearing that read 'Manager'. "Yeah... And you must be Gerald. I'm very happy that she's had a friend like you during... recent times." he said.

"B-but... I thought you were a business guy..." I blurted out, without thinking. "Cut backs and such... it's been hard. But I didn't want to move again... not after she made so many friends. I made friends with the old manager of the place, and I got a job here for a little while... but, he retired. And he gave the shop to me. The deed too... So, we're doin' okay." he explained. "Lila's a... she's a really good person." I said, awkwardly. He gave me a warm smile. "Your a good kid, Gerald." he said. "I wish I could've met Arnold as well."

I nodded. "Yeah... me too. Um, I think I should go after your daughter." I said.

Mr Sawyer smiled. "Yes. You do that."

I downed the rest of my hot chocolate, and ran outside, into the rain. Lila was leaning against the building, looking upset. I opened my mouth to say something- but I couldn't think of anything. So instead, I walked over and leaned on the building next to her. And together, we watched the rain fall.

"Your dad's a good guy." I said, without looking at her.

"Uh-huh." she said.

We stood there staring, for another few minutes. Although it would usually be bright and sunny this time of the day- the thick rain clouds blocked out the sun effectively enough for to look like it was almost night time. As we stared, I noticed something. Something in the darkness. A shape.

"Do you see that?" I asked.

Lila shook her head.

Slowly, the shape began to get clearer and clearer. It looked like... a silhouette. Then, it stood into the light of the street light.

A person. Maybe our age... wearing a long black cloak. Darkness inside the hood hid the persons' face. "Are you... Gerald Johanssen?" the cloaked figure asked. I nodded. Slowly, the figure pulled something out of its cloak. Lila and I froze. It was a gun.

"And I guess the girl next to you is Lila Sawyer, huh?" it asked.

It cocked the gun, and put its finger on the trigger. I held my breath.

"BANG!"

I closed my eyes.

I couldn't feel anything... which meant that... Lila... I opened my eyes, and gasped. There, standing in front of the both of us- was standing another cloaked figure. This one hold a red... sword? It looked a little like a... key.

"Are you okay?" it asked. Lila and I recognized the voice instantly. "Isaac!" we exclaimed in unison. Isaac pointed his weapon at the hooded figure. "You don't belong here, James." said Isaac. 'James' snorted. "Oh please. I belong here just as much as you do- do I not?" he asked.

"Your a murderer." Isaac spat. James seemed delighted by this. "Oh my? Angry are we? Well, maybe a certain _genius_ should have destroyed me when he had the chance!" he taunted. There was silence, save for the sound of the rain.

"Oh come on! This is the part where you retort, _genius_! Come on! Thats how it works." said James, sounding genuinely annoyed. Isaac growled. "No more games. You took the life of a good friend of mine... You've destroyed everything you've ever touched. Your own world... parts of mine... No more mercy." he said.

With that, Isaac held his weapon into the air. "Program! Number Thirty Sixty-Seven! STOPZA!" He bellowed. Suddenly, a wave burst out of his weapon, washing across everything in sight. I paused for a second, and looked around. The sound from the rain had stopped. And as I stared at the rain- I realised why.

The rain had stopped. It was just floating in the air. Thousands- no, millions of rain drops, just floating in place. I turned to face Lila. She looked just as awe inspired as I was.

"BANG!"

My attention lurched back the hooded figure, 'James'. He had opened fire. Lila and I ducked. Isaac swung his weapon around faster than I could see. The bullet sparked upon impact with the weapon- flying off in all different directions. "Guys! You might want to run!" Isaac bellowed. It was hard to make out what he was saying what with all the gunfire. But something told me that he was saying something along those lines. I grabbed Lila by the arm, and pulled her up to her feet. Then, we ran.

I could hear an impact behind me- and then more gunfire. When I felt a few of the bullets wizz pass us- missing by just a few inches, both Lila and I started running even faster.

_'No... escape...'_

Lila and I froze. 'James' was standing in front of us- brandishing two big hand guns. "How-" I was cut off by the sound of a gun shot. I didn't close my eyes, this time. All of a sudden, Isaac seemed to just morph out of the air right in front of us. He held his weapon in front of him- but he wasn't fast enough. I could see the bullets burst through him- spraying blood all over us.

"Isaac!" I yelled. Isaac held up a hand. "I'm fine!" he yelled. "You guys need to get outta here!"

"Now, now. You of all people should know... there is _no_ escape." said James. I watched, my body flooded with adrenalin, as he put his guns together. He muttered something- and then there was a flash. Evey inch of my body wanted to move, but... I couldn't. James was holding a weapon of his own. Another... weird, sword thing. It had a metal square around the handle- covered with what looked like... jagged teeth, and... eyes. The base of it was long, and rectangular. And on one side, was a series of three long, black spikes. It almost looked like a scythe... with three blades.

James took a swing at Isaac- but this time Isaac moved fast enough to block it with his own weapon. Sparks flew into the air, and the weapon grinded against each other. James threw his head back- letting the hood fall off of his face, and hang down his back.

He was so pale... his face was covered with small scars, his eyes a deep and menacing crimson read. He had long brown hair- styled up to resemble horns. I shivered.

"Come on, kids... No need to be... scared..." he said, with a big, creepy smile. He bared his teeth- they were long, sharp and jet black. I could feel my stomach churn. It was... a... demon...

James leapt back and swung his weapon at Isaac. Isaac blocked it again- but this time it was a little too much. He lost his footing, and skidded across the bitumen. James swung his weapon down on him- but Isaac was ready for it.

"Program! Thirty fourty-nine! LIGHT!" he bellowed. All of a sudden, a flash of bright light erupted from his hands. It burned my eyes. I closed them, but it was too late. I could hear James let out a snarl of pain. Well- at least it worked. I opened my eyes again- but everything was blurry. I turned to face where I thought they were... I could hear the sound of metal hitting and grinding against metal- and I could make out their shapes, but just barely. It looked like James had already recovered.

I turned to face Lila. I could barely make out her face... but I could tell it was her. "We need to get out of here." I whispered. She nodded. We stood ourselves up once more, and ran for our lives.

* * *

Running... and running... The floating rain drops brushed past us like cold crystals. Everything was still blurry- but I could at least see a little ahead of me, which was more than I could say for Lila. We held hands to support each other. I could feel the demon kid chasing after us...

We continued to run. Neither of us had a particular destination in mind. We weren't thinking clearly enough to formulate any kind of plan. The adrenalin was coursing through us like electricity. After what felt like an eternity, Lila stopped. So, I did too.

We couldn't speak. We could barely breathe. The both of us gasped for breath. It felt like I was drowning... Lila rugged on my sleeve, and motioned to the alleyway next to us. I nodded. We needed to catch our breath...

The alley way was flooding, before. I could see streams of water rushing out of it, onto the side walk and into the gutter. But now- the water was frozen in place. It was a little... off putting. We caught our breath, leaning against the building to the side- next to a couple of trash cans. For a few minutes... there was silence.

"You okay, Lila?" I gasped.

"Yes... you, Gerald?" she asked.

I nodded.

Silence fell again. I looked up into the sky- at the black clouds that were currently blocking out the sun. It felt like it hadn't stopped raining... ever since Arnold died. Without Arnold... the city had no sun. I let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry, Lila." I said.

"Whatever for, Gerald?" she asked.

"For... Arnold. I know he didn't want to drag either of us in this... this... whatever it is that's going on. But- he did... and... I'm sorry. For Arnold's sake." I explained. I felt a weight come off of my chest.

"Please don't apologise, Gerald. As scary as it got... I still liked it. And I got to become friends with you and Arnold..." she said. "I... I really miss that silly boy..."

I nodded. "Yeah... me too. Did I ever tell you about the first time he ever cooked waffles?"

"Oh... no. No you didn't."

"Oh! So, Arnold and I were watching this show- and this ad for this... this... old lady brand, maple syrup came on. And Arnold thought that it was an ad for waffles- because it ended with the syrup being poured on a big plate of waffles, and these old folk eating it and being all smiles.

So, he decided that he was gonna make a batch for his Grandma and Grandpa. You know he lives with them- right?" I asked.

Lila nodded, and motioned for me to continue.

"Anyway- Arnold and I managed to find this old cook book in the kitchen. And in it, was his Grandma's secret recipe for Green Waffles. She makes them every year for Saint Patricks day... but she always makes them during New Years Eve. She's funny like that. This one time, she made a table of hoagies for the fourth of July- only it was Thanksgiving Day. And lemme tell you- that was the best darn Thanksgiving Day I've ever had. My dad ate, like, a dozen of 'em. They had an eating contest. I've never seen Jamie-O get so full! I'm telling ya, he must've eaten like a hundred of them! Or, you know- eight or nine.

Any-who, all we really needed was flour, sugar, eggs, milk and a little bit of green food dye. But Arnold ended up using salt and self-raising flour instead! I'll tell, you, I've never seen waffles get that big- and that salty! And when his grandparents tasted it, they could hardly hide the pain in their faces. But get this. Arnold's grandma put some of that maple syrup on them, and all of a sudden- they were like the best waffles I'd ever tasted! Arnold's Grandma changed her recipe after that. She tried adding tabasco sauce one time- and it was even better. At least, it was for his Grandma and I. For Arnold and his Grandpa- well, I've never seen somebody get so close to breathing fire!"

Lila and I laughed. "How old were you then?" asked Lila.

I shrugged.

"I dunno... about... seven?" I guessed.

"Oh... so, I wasn't here then." she said. I nodded. "Oh yeah- you only moved here a few years ago... where were you before?" I asked. Lila smiled, weakly. "Well... I was born here in Hillwood... but my parents and I moved after I finished pre-school." she explained. I rose my eyebrows. "Oh, wow, man. I didn't know that." I said. Lila shrugged, and shifted her focus to the ground. She looked... sad.

"My mom and dad... we moved to another city... because my dad had an even better job opportunity there. And that... that was when my mother got sick. I mean... she started yelling a lot more... and... she got scary. She got diagnosed with something but I... I don't really remember. I was pretty young... When she died... everything started to fall apart. There were nights where couldn't afford to eat... We had to sleep on a park bench once or twice..." she said.

I bit my lip. I suddenly began to remember every time I'd ever complained about my family in front of her... and I berated myself. Just like I did whenever I complained about my parents when Arnold was around. Or whenever I would complain about my siblings, and Arnold would tell me _'I'd love to have a brother or sister...'_

"But, dad got another job opportunity here... so we got the chance to move back. We managed to find a little house... and dad did his best to make sure I didn't have to go to bed hungry every night. Now... well, now things are a lot better." Lila continued. "I never had any friends in my old home, you know... And even after I moved here, it felt a little weird. I was nice to everybody... but I didn't make one real friend. And then- Arnold appeared. And he started inviting me to baseball games and stuff... it felt so good...

And then, the crazy stuff started happening. And for the first time ever... I had two best friends. I'm... I'm really grateful, Gerald. I must thank you, ever so much." she said.

I smiled. "Your welcome, Lila. I'll always be here as a friend." I said. "Say... give me your hand." Lila gave me a curious look, and gave me her hand. "Alright... watch this." I said. With that, I grasped her hand with mine- like a handshake, and wiggled my thumb. "You try it." I said.

Lila wiggled her thumb, and stared at me for a moment. I smiled. "That, is our secret best friend handshake. I reveal this secret to you- as proof of our bond of best friendy-ness." I announced. Lila smiled. "Oh, that's not a secret... I've seen you and Arnold do that heaps of times." she said.

"What? Is anybody else doing it?" I demanded.

Lila shook her head.

"Well, good. We won't have to change it again..." I muttered to myself.

Suddenly, the rain began to fall again. Lila and I shared a look. "That... do you think this means that... that Isaac... lost?" I asked. "I don't know..." said Lila. We huddled against the brick wall of the building behind us, doing our best not to get soaked by the cold rain.

Something began to form out of the darkness in front of us. Lila and I tensed. The darkness morphed, and shifted- until finally, somebody in a cloak stood out of it. The person in the cloak took of his hood, and Lila and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Isaac.

"You, okay?" he gasped. "Are you? Your- your covered in blood!" Lila exclaimed. Isaac smiled, weakly. "Yeah... I've been better." he said. He slowly rummaged around the inside of his cloak- until finally pulling out a small, purple cube. He held it out in front of his face, the purple glow illuminating his features. Isaac cleared his throat. "Large umbrella." he said. Suddenly, the cube began to glow. And then, a giant pole began to erupt out of the top. Before Lila and I had any time to react, the pole opened up into a giant umbrella. The sides of it squashed itself in between the buildings, providing shelter from the rain.

Issac pulled the rest of the umbrella out of the cube, and stuck the pole into the ground.

"Wh-what happened?" asked Lila. Isaac shrugged. "Just another agent of darkness... is this the first time he threatened you lives?" he asked. Lila and I nodded.

"Good." said Isaac.

"Then I got back just in time."

With that, Isaac unzipped his cloak, revealing a blood spattered red shirt. Lifting the shirt carefully, he pulled a medical kit out of his cube, and started to tending to his wounds.

"Who was that?" I asked. Isaac grunted, as he started disinfecting a few of the bullet holes he had all over his body. "Well... he's an evil creature. He's the guy that shot Arnold." he said.

I froze.

"R-... really?" I asked.

Isaac nodded. "Really. I was busy dealing with another situation in another world when I heard..." he trailed off. "But listen... I'm working on putting him back together. It's just going to take a little time." he explained.

I blinked. "What do you mean, 'putting him back together'?" I asked. Isaac smiled. "I mean... that Arnold isn't dead."

I felt all of the air rush out of my lungs.

"Wh-... what?" I asked.

"When Arnold was shot... his body died... but his existence did not. I've been spending every waking moment I have- rebuilding him with the memories he left behind, as well as his physical remains. It's been taking its time, but..." Isaac smiled at us. "If I were to hazard a geuss... I'd say he'll be ready... any minute now."

Everything went silent for a moment. Except for the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella above us, the only noise I could hear was the sound of us breathing. And then, Lila started crying. And before I knew what was going on, I could feel tears streaming down my own face. I tried to speak, but I couldn't...

Arnold... he was... coming back...

I couldn't stop. The tears just kept on coming. I couldn't control it. I'd missed him so much these past few months... It was all like a blur.

I could hear Isaacs voice from somewhere in the background- but it was hard to pay attention. "Hey guys!" he yelled. We jumped, and turned to face him. Isaac smiled, weakly. "Listen... I need to tell you guys something. When Arnold comes back... starting from tomorrow- time will jump backwards. And to everybody in the world, it'll be just another sunny day. And anything to do with Arnolds death... or anything else- to them, it will have never happened. The three of you. Gerald. Lila. And Arnold... you will be the only people with any memory of what happened. Understand?" he asked.

Lila and I sniffled, and nodded. I took a deep breath.

"But... there's something else. Starting tomorrow... the final test begins. The three of you... have to find the person- One person, that Arnold is connected too. On a deeper level than yourselves, even his parents. You can't tell him this... you can only guide him to find it himself. And if he does... well..." Isaac trailed off.

"Never mind."

With that, he checked his watch. Isaac smiled to himself. "You guys have been waiting a long time... I'm sorry that I can't... I can't tell you guys everything... about what's going on in this world- not to mention the others. But what I can do- is bend the rules. Just a little." he said. With that, his weapon suddenly appeared in his hands. Pointing at the sky, he started to mumble something that I couldn't quite make out. All of a sudden, a burst of light shot out of the weapon, and into the sky. Then, I could hear the sound of a lock being turned. The light died down eventually.

Isaac turned to face us. "I'd better... go. I wish you the best of luck. The reset is six am. Have fun." And with that- he was gone.

I stared at the ground he had been standing on for a moment- and then Lila tugged on my sleeve.

"Look, Gerald!" she exclaimed.

I looked up. The umbrella had suddenly disappeared- and so had the rain. As the clouds began to separate, beams of sunlight began to wash across the entire city. But... there was something else. In the sky... it looked like it was... falling. I jumped to my feet. "Lila!" I yelled. But it was too late. There was an impact on the ground. Hard enough to send mud flying, and almost knock us off of our feet.

I coughed, and wiped the dirt out of my eyes.

And there he was.

He was floating over the ground for a second, and then he landed on the ground. On his back.

"Ow..." he grumbled.

Arnold sat up, looking like he had just woken up. "Oh... hey, guys." he said.

Lila dove in instantly. "Ack! Ow! Lila! Wha- Not so- Aaargh! Your crushing me!" he yelled, as Lila hugged him as tightly as she could. I smiled. Tears were welling up in my eyes again... I brushed them off- and wrapped my arms around Arnold and Lila both. And squeezed as hard as I could.

"Ow! Gerald- not you too! Ah- Ow! Seriously, guys, I- Ack!" groaned Arnold.

Lila and I let go of him, and helped him to his feet. "It's good to see you again, man..." I said.

Lila nodded. "Ever-so good"

Arnold scratched the back of his head. "Eh-heh... yeah... I guess, I'm back." he said.

"Hey! Wait- no, come on guys! No more hugging! it- Ack! Aw come on, guys!"

* * *

TBC


End file.
